When the Boss is Away
by Juura99
Summary: The Ninth floor is a boring place in Konoha Mega-Corp...That is, until the floor manager goes on a business trip. Now a certain blond employee starts up some mischief that turns the ninth floor into a war-zone...a Prank War-Zone at that. SasuNaru AU
1. Pop Ups and Big Bugs

**EDIT: Er...okay...there's obviously some site glitch going on, since I notice quite a few stories are being posted...but then when you click on them, it says 'story not found'...this happened to this one, so I'm reposting it in the hopes that, this time, it'll work. I'm sorry if I'm spamming your inboxes with it. DX Forgive me! Anyway...carry on.  
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**Hello! ^_^ This isn't on the list of upcoming projects, I know, but whatever! :D It's gonna be a short, light-hearted multi-chapter of fun and humour and good will...sorta. XD**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy it** **nontheless! ^_^**

**Warnings for story: Non really...though it is going to be a SasuNaru (when is it ever not?) :D Mild Language and misbehaving employees (not THAT way, you pervy people!)  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. ;_;**

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><p>The office building of Konoha Mega-Corporation was a thirty story structure, standing smack in the middle of the city centre surrounded by smaller business and other enterprises. It was well known in the city for being one of the largest providers are various merchandise, ranging from electronics and software to things like furniture, food brands and even a clothing and accessory range which was highly popular with the younger generations who loved to wear designer shirts emblazoned with the rugged leaf-swirl symbol of Konoha and other special symbols significant to the city and the Mega-Corporation.<p>

The ninth floor of the building was one of the more, shall we say, boring floors. It was filled with nothing but cubicle after cubicle where men and women sat on computers, filling out paperwork, checking over statistics charts, forwarding messages and documents, answering menial questions and doing all manners of mid-way tasks that were left for them to do. It wasn't that the floor wasn't important; indeed many of the larger operations depended on their reviews and services in delivering each document to its rightful place. If they messed up by sending one project overview to the wrong department, the entire operation could be setback or even collapse. But even so, nothing very exciting happened on the ninth floor. There were no sudden brainstorms, no one ever jumped up with the phone to declare they had just won a conquest and were expanding and everyone was getting a pay raise. They never saw important people wandering through, talking to the heads of the corporation about construction plans and new merchandise. They were never privy to hearing the satisfying yells of a trouble-maker being tossed out of the building by security.

The manager of the floor, Itachi Uchiha, who was also the son of one of the CEO's, was a calm, eerily indifferent man who kept the workforce working and the flow of the floor as smooth as silk. He was a hard worker and an excellent boss, and no one questioned his authority because they all knew, son of a CEO or not, that Itachi Uchiha deserved to be the boss and more. But now he was being sent to Africa in place of one of the higher ups to negotiate opening a new branch. It was a very good opportunity, and frankly the corporation trusted him more than the original person. They decided that the floor could do without a boss like him for a few weeks, and so he was sent away. Just before he left, Itachi made a request that his younger brother Sasuke, who worked on the ninth floor as an assistant manager, be put in charge while he was away. The heads agreed, seeing no problem. They honestly didn't think the ninth floor even needed a boss since everyone there always kept silent and worked. When they mentioned this, Itachi had only smirked and told them that they should expect the unexpected during his absence. With that ominous farewell, he stepped onto the plane and left for Africa, leaving the heads of the corporation and the entire ninth floor to their own devices for the next few weeks.

The following Monday, the ninth floor got a big surprise…

All in the form of a long-time ninth floor employee with a big plan during their boss-free few weeks…

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><p>Naruto Uzumaki stepped onto the ninth floor of his office building, his signature wide grin on his tan face. His blond hair was as messed as always, since he never bothered to tame it and no one ever bothered to tell him to try. They all remembered the day he bought a comb to work after the boss's secretary, Konan, had told him to comb his hair. Naruto had handed the woman the comb, and told her with a straight face to 'try and comb it'. Konan had indeed tried, and everyone was privy to see the normally composed woman holding Naruto in a headlock, trying her level best to comb his hair when the locks kept bouncing out of place no matter how much she flattened them. Eventually she gave up, handed him his now mangled comb, and told him to at least put his tie on properly.<p>

Naruto walked through the aisles between the cubicles, waving to the people he knew and even to the ones he didn't. Everyone was a friend on the ninth floor, even if you never spoke. It was just something about the calm atmosphere.

But that was all about to change. Oh yes…

Naruto loved his job, lacking as it was. But even he could admit it could be boring just sitting around doing easy stuff. He was lazy, but sometimes he felt he was in danger of going comatose in front of his computer if something exciting didn't happen.

They had their own ways of entertainment, for sure. Some people bought board games to play when work was slow, others spent time chatting over the edges of their cubicles. But now that Itachi was away, Naruto was going to put his plan into action. He vowed that by the end of today, the ninth floor would have a new way to enjoy their work.

His grin widened as he finally reached his little cubicle, which was right next to his best friend's. Said best friend was currently typing away, a pen stuck behind his ear as his dark eyes roamed over the screen. His messy brunet hair was as untameable as Naruto's, and he was chewing on a bent paperclip.

"Good morning Kiba!" Naruto greeted, leaning on the small separation between their 'offices'. Kiba grunted, not moving his eyes away from his screen.

"What're you working on?" Naruto pressed, chewing his lip to hide his grin.

"Just forwarding this email," Kiba mumbled and Naruto waited until he sent the message and leant back in his chair. "Done."

Naruto's grin broke free and he sat down quickly. "Hey Kiba," he called.

"Yeah?"

"Could you check that link I sent you? The boss wanted it reviewed as soon as possible, but I need to get another opinion on it." Naruto pressed a hand over his mouth once he was finished, trying to muffle his laughter.

"Sure thing," Kiba said, checking his email for the new email Naruto sent. He found it and opened it up, seeing a simple link. His hand moved his mouse, and he clicked on the link.

A window popped up only to be followed a second later by a loud, blood-curdling scream while a mangled face popped up from the new window.

Kiba shrieked at the top of his lungs, jumping back out of his chair and flipping over the separation of his cubicle. He fell straight down into the aisle even as others looked up, eyes wide as they stared at him.

Naruto burst into laughter, standing up only to double over when he saw Kiba had face-planted the floor somehow.

"Oh my Go-hahaha!" he gasped, slapping his hands on the desk as Kiba pulled himself up, face red from embarrassment, adrenaline and the slight panic.

"You asshole!" Kiba yelled, but his lips were already cracking into a smile. Others around them, now realizing what had happened, were starting to laugh and chuckle as Kiba climbed to his feet. Naruto was too busy laughing to say anything back, and Kiba grabbed an empty folder from his desk, whacking his friend over the head repeatedly. "I almost had a heart attack!"

"I-It's okay," Naruto gasped, holding his arms up to defend himself from the folder of doom. "I already printed out y-your w-will just in c-case!"

Kiba barked out a laugh, putting the folder down and resting a hand over his heart. "Geez dude, that scared the shit outta me!" he chuckled and then glared. "I'll get you back for that!" he declared.

Naruto grinned, wide and pleased. "I'll be waiting. Don't disappoint me now!"

Kiba grinned, holding out his fist while others watched, knowing full well that something big was starting now.

"Oh, I won't Uzumaki. You'd better prepare yourself!"

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><p>Sasuke Uchiha sighed, running a hand through his raven hair, riding the elevator to the ninth floor which he was temporarily in charge of. He knew Itachi just wanted him to make sure that the floor kept running because there were some very lazy people on the ninth floor that needed to be supervised. And while Sasuke didn't mind helping his brother out every now and then, he had his own work to do. There was a promotion up for grabs that he knew he could get if he did the right work. Having to take on Itachi's workload too would make it more complicated than he needed it to be.<p>

He sighed, expecting his time as the ninth floor boss to be droll and dreary. He liked working and had ambitions of his own, but being the manager of this floor just made him feel like some shoddy-second rate worker. He wondered why Itachi didn't just get promoted already. Lord knows that the higher ups would benefit from having him in their midst, but Itachi seemed intent on staying right where he was. Perhaps he had some ulterior motives of some sort?

Either way, Sasuke thought as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open to reveal his personal playground starting from today, he was sure that the next few weeks would go slowly and would be as boring as a grass-growing convention.

As he walked through the aisles, hearing some greetings from co-workers, he sensed a disturbance in the force; a very loud disturbance too.

"Holy shit! AAH! WHAT IS THAT_?_! AH AH AH!"

Looking up he saw his fellow worker -turned-underling Naruto jumping around in circles, trying to swat something off of his back. Narrowing his black eyes he saw it was actually a very large beetle and guessed that it had flown in from outside.

Kiba Inuzuka, another co-worker, and Naruto's friend if Sasuke recalled, was standing nearby, laughing like an absolute lunatic as his friend panicked.

"Haha! I told you I'd get you back!" Kiba yelled, breaking into another fit of laughter when Naruto started to do a strange bending-motion, trying to limbo-stretch and get the insect off of him.

Everyone around them was laughing loudly at his expense, and Sasuke walked up to the circle, watching with interest. He turned to see another worker, Shikamaru Nara, standing with a lazy smirk on his face while watching.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, suppressing a chuckle when Naruto started to try and get others to take the bug off. Most of the women shrieked and darted away while most of the guys just laughed and shoved him back, enjoying the show.

"Naruto pulled a scare-prank on Kiba this morning, so Kiba retaliated by taking a bug from one of the bathrooms and putting it on Naruto's back," Shikamaru drawled, as Naruto came up to them.

"A prank war, huh?" Sasuke mumbled, watching as Shikamaru just shook his head at Naruto's pleas. The blond hopped over to him, looking desperate.

"Sasuke! Old buddy old pal of mine! Get this thing off of me! PLEASE!" Naruto begged, still trying to swat the insect away. Sasuke smirked and told him to turn around.

"You're the best!" Naruto cheered, relieved. Sasuke plucked the insect off of the blond's back, looking at it. It was just a normal black beetle, but it was definitely large enough to not want it clinging on your back. Naruto was breathing heavily with relief before he turned to Kiba, pointing.

"I'm getting you back for that one!"

"Bring it on beetle-boy!"

Sasuke watched as the two yelled threats at each other before smirking. It seemed that his time in charge wouldn't be too boring after all. Quietly, he leant towards Naruto. The ones who had stayed to watch held their breath as he stood right behind the yelling blond, and carefully he placed the beetle on top of Naruto's head. Naruto didn't even notice as Sasuke pulled back, a wicked grin on his face while everyone else started to stifle their laughter.

Naruto saw Kiba's face contort before the brunet slapped a hand over his mouth, face red.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, but Kiba shook his head wildly, unable to answer. The blond heard snickers from around him and turned, seeing everyone staring at him with hands over their mouths.

"What? What'd I miss?" he asked, looking around for answers. He looked at Sasuke, seeing the raven standing with a big smile on his face and his hands…in his pockets.

S-Sasuke? Where's the bug?" Naruto asked, eyes wide. Sasuke's smile turned evil and it was then that Naruto felt something on his forehead. His eyes swivelled inwards, squinting as he tried to spot something. A black shape appeared in his fuzzy visions and he let out a loud scream at realizing the beetle was crawling down his face.

"HOLY FUCK! AAAAAAAH!"

The ninth floor was filled with laughter as they saw Naruto run from one end to the other, screaming at the top of his lungs and trying to swat the elusive bug off.

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><p><strong>^_^ Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I don't know for sure when the next ones will come, since this isn't a serious story of any kind...but meh, you'll probably see more by, latest, Sunday or so. :) Please leave a review with your thoughts...and if you have any pranks to suggest, please do! ^_^ I can use any ideas! <strong>

**See you next chapter ne? :D**


	2. Chair Tricks and Duck Butts

**Here we go! Next chapter! ^_^ Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! :D I read them all and, even if I couldn't reply, I loved them all and I thank you for them! *blows kisses***

**I hope you enjoy the next chapter! Remember, if you have any pranks that you'd like to see pulled, feel free to tell me! **

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><p>Naruto held back his laughter as he sneakily tied a string to the lever of Kiba's chair. The brunet was currently in the toilet, but just in case, Naruto had enlisted the help of his other friend Chouji Akimichi to distract Kiba if he came out of the bathroom early. The others in the office sent him glances, smiles on their faces as they waited until he was finished. It was Tuesday, but the prank war between Naruto and Kiba was ongoing. Everyone on the ninth floor was eager to see how the day would turn out, and what wacky pranks the two would pull off.<p>

Naruto snorted before catching himself as he slowly backed out of Kiba's cubicle, carefully threading the string down in a way that it wouldn't be seen, but still be used. He thanked the Gods that Kiba's desk was higher than others due to his friend receiving an office that used to belong to a giant of man.

"Thanks for the help Kiba!" Naruto heard Chouji yelling and with a breathless giggle he hurried back to the photocopier against the wall, opposite Kiba's cubicle.

"No problem Chouji," Kiba said, waving to the large man as he walked into his office. He glanced at Naruto, but at seeing the blond holding a proposal paper, he dismissed him with a small shrug and sat down, opening up his email.

Naruto waited, and he could feel the secretive glances of everyone around watching and waiting. Finally, when he knew Kiba was concentrating, he turned around with a wide grin and reached for the string on the ground, blending in with the wires of the photocopier. He picked it up, easing it higher and winding it closer until it was taught. It was almost like the whole floor sucked in a breath and held it as Naruto counted down.

Then he tugged firmly, and the little lever on Kiba's chair turned. There was a whir as the chair sunk from its highest level, clanking loudly as seat hit base. Kiba, flailing at the sudden drop, ended up toppling his entire chair backwards and falling to the floor with a loud yell while his legs kicked up in the air. Everyone started laughing hysterically, but Naruto's was loudest of all as he turned in a circle, nearly crying from laughing before he fell to his knees and slapped his palm on the ground.

"Dammit!" Kiba yelled, thumping his head against the floor for having walked into the trap. "You _bastard_!"

"Did someone call me?" Sasuke said, poking his head out of Itachi's office which he had taken residence in. He saw Kiba on the ground and Naruto wetting himself in a corner, and easily deduced that another prank had taken place. "Please tell me someone got it on camera!" he said, looking up at the spectators.

"I did!" a voice yelled, and heads turned to see a woman with blond hair pulled back into four stubby knots. Her name was Temari Sabaku. "I got it all here!" she said proudly, waving her phone.

Sasuke walked over to her, leaning over her shoulder to watch the video while others also joined, wanting to relive it. Everyone easily heard the crashing of Kiba's chair, as well as his yelling and Naruto's hysterical laughter, coming from the small device. Sasuke smirked as he stepped back.

"Send that to me, please," he said and Temari nodded, laughing as she went back to her desk. Sasuke calmly walked over to the two on the floor. "Inuzuka, please fix your chair and continue working. I want those contract papers for the new branch in the South District finished up and sent to me as soon as possible. Naruto, stop laughing, go change your underwear and please finish making the copies of the Gatou-proposal," he instructed and turned, walking back into his new office and closing the door with a snap.

Slowly, everyone started to pull themselves back into work, chattering about the prank as they sat down and settled.

Kiba got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head as he started to readjust his chair. Naruto walked up to him, still laughing and knelt down to retrieve his string.

"I'm going to get you back for that!" Kiba hissed through a grin. Naruto nodded eagerly.

"Bring it on Kibs!"

"Good idea, by the way."

"Why thank you. And you can thank Chouji too. He was my distraction," Naruto said, and laughed anew at the look on Kiba's face. The brunet jumped to his feet and turned to the rest of the room.

"CHOUJI! YOU BASTARD, I'LL GET YOU TOO!" he yelled. A hand emerged above the cubicles, easily recognizable as Chouji's. It waved happily before giving him the finger and sinking back down, making Naruto laugh and Kiba growl.

"Oh, it's on now!"

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><p>Sasuke brushed some hair out of his eyes as he read over the proposal. It wasn't anything major; it just had to be reviewed before being sent for finalisation. God, how he hated red-tape.<p>

"Then again, without red tape this floor wouldn't exist," he mumbled.

He finished the page and placed it back in the folder, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms out. Since the morning prank with Kiba's chair, nothing had happened. Sasuke was right when he had thought that leading this floor would be boring. Even the manager's work was mundane. At least when he was assistant manager he was a bit more active, moving through the building on occasions. Out of everyone on the ninth floor, aside from Itachi, he'd seen the most floors in the building aside from their own. He rather enjoyed going up to the thirteenth floor. That was the design floor or something like that, and it was mostly a room full of desks and sketch boards, where designers worked on ideas for their next clothing range, accessories and such. There was usually something interesting happening on that floor, mostly because of one particular blond man named Deidara who had a penchant for bringing some strange things in with him. Sasuke remembered one time he had been up there, delivering the overviewed design sheets, and he witnessed Deidara getting chased by the floor manager for setting fireworks off in the bathrooms, scaring the crap out of half the employees in the process.

Fun times.

He scratched at his cheek, thinking of his own co-workers. It seemed that Naruto was the one to start the prank war, and it made him wonder if the blond had known how dreary the weeks ahead would be. Or had he been planning this for ages, but never gotten a chance to act it out with Itachi around keeping an eye on them all?

He looked up at the ceiling, deciding he didn't really care whether Naruto had planned this or not. The truth of the matter was that Sasuke found the idea of having an ongoing prank war in the floor to be…perfect. As long as the pranks didn't completely screw-up their work, then he thought it was a brilliant way to keep everyone entertained and on their toes.

Standing up, he walked to the door and eased it open, looking out at the workforce. He crossed his arms, leaning on the doorway as he watched everyone type away, make copies or go to the few enclosed offices to get items from the residents. The only other people on the floor with enclosed offices, aside from him, were Kakashi Hatake, Iruka Umino, Genma Shiranui and Ibiki Morino. Everyone else had a cubicle, and some even shared office space.

"Sasuke! Need something?" Naruto asked, walking up to him. He held several papers in his hand, and a glance showed Sasuke that they were the Gatou-proposal papers.

"Ah, you finished with those then?" Sasuke asked, holding out his hand. Naruto nodded, smiling as he handed them over. He stepped closer, clapping a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and giving him an intense look.

Sasuke returned it, an eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Just want to say good luck with taking on Itachi's workload! I don't really know what type of stuff he had to put up with from the higher ups, but I'm sure that you'll be able to do it just as well if not better!" Naruto said and offered a bright smile.

Sasuke blinked. No one had ever said something like that before. He'd had plenty of people telling him that he _might_ become _as good_ as his brother, but never _better_. A little bubble of happiness formed in his heart, and he found himself giving Naruto a grateful smile.

"Hn. Sure. Anyway, I have to deliver these to the higher ups," he said, and Naruto nodded, clapping him on the back a few times.

"Sure thing, Mr Boss-man!" he said and walked away back to his little cubicle to work while Sasuke continued onwards.

It was after a few steps that he noticed something odd. People were looking at him as he passed, and his sharp ears caught the sound of a few badly muffled snickers. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he turned his head, looking behind him in time to see all heads quickly turn back to their own devices. Suspicion even more aroused, he slowly resumed his walk to the elevator. People continued to try and hide their glances as well as their laughter. He reached a hand up, feeling his hair. There was a badly concealed snort, and he made sure to thoroughly check his head but he couldn't find anything that could be considered weird. He reached the elevator to find Kiba waiting there, looking bewildered.

"What're you doing here Inuzuka?" Sasuke asked, still fiddling with his hair, trying to find anything odd. Kiba shrugged.

"Naruto told me to wait here for you for some reason. He said I'd know once I saw you."

Sasuke blinked before frowning. "Is something on my face?" he asked. Kiba peered at him, eyes searching.

"…Nothing that I can see. You look the same to me. Maybe Naruto was just pulling a weak prank on me?" he wondered aloud. Sasuke huffed, wondering why everyone had been laughing. He stepped forwards, pressing the button for the elevator while Kiba pushed away from the wall. The brunet glanced at him again, and this time he let out a high pitched cough before laughing, stumbling a bit as he finally realized what Naruto had been talking about.

"What? What is it?" Sasuke asked, turning around in a circle like a dog chasing its tail. Kiba chuckled, moving forward and reaching around Sasuke to grab at something on his back. He pulled and stepped away, holding it up for Sasuke to see. It was piece of paper that had a very large 'DUCK-BUTT' printed on it in bright pink, along with a huge picture of a black duck's bottom, with the feathers sticking upright much like Sasuke's hair did at the back. There was even an arrow pointing upwards towards his head.

"What the…" Sasuke's eyes widened as he thought back to when Naruto had smiled and clapped him on the back. "That sneaky little shithead!"

Kiba smothered a laugh in a cough, examining the page with interest. His eyes kept glancing up at Sasuke's hair before looking away again, a badly concealed snort stopping in his throat. "He must've told me to wait here so that I could remove it before you got to any of the other floors. It wouldn't do for anyone else to get involved in our floor's pranks," he said and coughed again.

Sasuke sighed. At least the blond idiot had taken that into consideration. Sasuke could deal with pranks in their floor, but if they started making a fool of him on the other floors, he'd never let them get away with it. He would get them fired…if he wasn't fired first.

But this brought about a new dilemma…Naruto had pranked him. Was that considered a challenge?

A slow, evil smirk crept up on Sasuke's face and he turned to Kiba, who gulped and held the duck page to his chest as if it would protect him.

"Kiba, kindly tell Naruto that I accept his challenge…and that he'd better watch his back."

And with that, Sasuke stepped into the elevator, and Kiba swore he heard demonic laughter ringing inside before it left the floor.

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><p><strong>We have a new contender! XD What shall Sasuke's revenge be? What will Kiba's revenge be? Who else is going to get involved in this prank war? <strong>

**Find out next time on 'When the Boss is Away...'**

**I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review with your thoughts! ^_^ Thank you!  
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	3. Memories, Mangled Masks and Much More

**Okay, due to the content in this chapter, I feel I must warn you...that I am making the PLOT up AS I GO! Seriously, there is very little pre-thought going into the deeper plot of this story, because to be honest it's not supposed to have one. This story is really just my own little selfish pleasure to keep myself occupied when I have no inspiration for the actual, serious stories, and so the plot for this is a very thin, shaky line that may or may not make sense I don't know!**

**I'm just bullshitting my way through this! XD Let's see what results we get by the end, ne? Who knows, maybe it'll actually be interesting?**

**Anyyaoi, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! ^_^ More plot-stuff here but still pranks! :D **

**Warnings: Language, mentions of past yaoi, cliches and pranks**

**Disclaimer: We've all established that I have no ownership of any of these characters (God has mercy on their souls it seems)**

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><p>Naruto worried his bottom lip, glancing over his shoulder continuously. It was nearing the end of the day, but he hadn't yet received retaliation for his prank on Sasuke. After Kiba delivered the raven's message, Naruto was on edge. It wasn't that he hadn't expected Sasuke to retort, but he <em>knew<em> the raven. Sasuke and he had gone to the same high school, and had been best friends. Actually, they had been a little bit more than just friends…but it, unfortunately, hadn't lasted because soon afterwards Sasuke and his family had to move away. Naruto had been devastated by the news, but he knew that he couldn't do anything about it. With a heavy heart, he'd said goodbye to the raven and tried to forget about the special relationship they'd had. He kept contact with Sasuke for the first few months, but then one day Sasuke stopped replying to all of his letters and messages. Eventually he stopped sending them, figuring that Sasuke didn't want to talk to him anymore.

Imagine his surprise when, years later, he arrives at work for the first time and bumps into none other than Sasuke and Itachi. Of course, he'd been ecstatic and given Sasuke a huge hug in welcome. His happiness had been shattered, however, when Sasuke asked him who he was. Before he could start screaming at the raven for daring to forget him, for forgetting what they had been, Itachi had pulled him aside and explained to him what had happened a few months after they moved. Sasuke had gotten into a very horrible accident one day, and had been hospitalized for ages. That had been when he stopped answering the blond's letters. But to make matters worse, Sasuke had only partially recovered from the accident, as he had lost a load of his memory. It had taken the Uchiha family ages to get Sasuke to remember many things, but eventually he was able to continue on.

The only problem…was he never quite remembered Naruto. And while he had been upset at this, Itachi had asked him to please not tell Sasuke anything about his past, as he did not want the youngest Uchiha having a breakdown as memories came back. After a while, Naruto had agreed and fed Sasuke the lie that he'd thought the raven was an old friend when he first saw him. Sasuke had accepted it, and from then on they went on with their lives as nothing but co-workers and occasional friends. It hurt Naruto to know so much about Sasuke and know that the raven couldn't remember how close they had been, but he shoved it down and bore with it. He was still Sasuke's friend, even if they had to start from the beginning.

But back to the topic, Naruto _knew_ Sasuke. And Sasuke, as bastard-like and indifferent as he often acted, was really as demonic as his brother. Naruto knew that whatever prank the raven had planned for him, it was going to either make him cry like a little girl, or possibly send him to a mental ward for a few days.

Hence he was a little bit nervous.

"Has Sasuke pranked you yet?" Kiba asked, resting his chin on the divider between their cubicles. Naruto shook his head, chewing on the end of his pen. He'd already finished up several reports, and was now just waiting for the end of the day to arrive so he could make his escape and hopefully avoid anal probing by mental-ward nurses.

"I'm hoping he's saving it for tomorrow or something. That'll give me more time to mentally prepare myself," he said, spinning in his chair slightly and slouching.

"Hmm," Kiba hummed, understanding. He, too, knew how evil Sasuke could be. He still remembered the smirk (and the evil laughter) the raven had displayed earlier. No doubt whatever retaliation awaited Naruto was a mean one.

"Well, maybe he's forgotten! Someone in the upper levels could've given him a lot of stuff to look over, so he might have completely forgotten!"

"Maybe," Naruto sighed. Just then, one of their fellow workers walked past, tripping slightly as they reached Naruto's cubicle. With a little yelp, they fell towards him and Naruto let out a cry as something wet splashed right onto his stomach and almost hit his crotch.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Naruto!"

The two looked up, seeing that the culprit was Sakura Haruno, a pretty and petite girl with a heart shaped face, sea-foam green eyes and strawberry pink hair. She was holding a plastic cup that had undoubtedly held her water before she tripped, spilling the contents on the blond.

"Ah, it's okay Sakura," Naruto said, smiling kindly. He always liked Sakura, finding her to be a nice person. Though, the few times he'd flirted with her, she'd turned him down quickly, sharply, and without even batting an eyelid. Like the secretly genius man he was, he soon turned his like from romantic to friendly.

"I'm really, so sorry!" Sakura said again, looking terribly guilty. Naruto just waved her apology away, standing up.

"I'll just go dab it dry or something," he said nonchalantly, walking towards the bathroom.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Sakura let out a sigh and tossed the cup into the bin. Kiba blinked, looking at the cup and then at her.

"You could just get more water you know," he pointed out. His jaw dropped when she gave him a look. "Oh my Aunt Freckles….You planned that!"

"Not me," Sakura said, holding her hands up. "I was just following an order!" she mumbled, a small smile flittering over her face before she hurried along to her cubicle. Kiba watched her leave before turning to look towards the bathroom.

"…Well, at least he's close to a toilet in case things get really bad," he muttered.

Naruto stepped into the bathroom, pulling his wet shirt away from his skin as best he could without having to take it off. The bathroom was empty, which he was thankful for. He didn't need someone making some smart comment.

Walking over to the sink, he grabbed at some of the paper towels from the dispenser, working at dabbing his shirt and slowly drying it up. His eyes were so focused on his task that he didn't see the shadowy figure emerging from one of the 'empty' bathroom stalls.

However, it was hard to miss when said figure loomed behind him. Naruto glanced up into the mirror, seeing the tall figure behind him that had the face of a mangled, demonic circus clown. Nonchalantly, he glanced back down again for a few seconds before his brain caught up with his eyes and he reacted.

"OH MY SHITBALLS!" he screamed, spinning around and jumping back. He landed on the counter, his backside falling into one of the sinks. His flailing hands knocked the tap and he let out another shriek as cold water suddenly sprayed over his back and ass. Struggling, he pushed himself out of the sink until he was sitting on the edge, his heart racing a mile a minute and water still flowing behind him.

But now he could clearly see the 'monster' behind him.

It was Sasuke.

Sasuke…who was currently holding himself up with the help of a stall door as he laughed so hard there were tears sparkling at the corner of his eyes. The mangled mask lay forgotten on the floor.

"Oh my God," Sasuke wheezed and then began to laughed even more. "I didn't…kuuahaha…I didn't think you'd get…pftahaa…that much of a fright!"

"Cheese and rice, dude!" Naruto yelled, placing a wet hand over his heart. He was practically soaked anyway. "How the fuck were you so quiet?"

"I was a ninja in a past life," Sasuke replied, wiping away at his eyes while his lips were still pulled into that ridiculous grin that came after a prank well-pulled. He picked up the mask, scrunching it up before easily tossing it into the trash bin in the corner.

Naruto panted for a moment before he hung his head, shaking it a few times. Then he started chuckling. "You got me man, you got me good."

"I know I did," Sasuke grinned, crossing his arms across his chest. Naruto barked out a laugh and looked down at himself. His eyes widened suddenly in realization and he looked up, shocked.

"You got Sakura to spill the water on me to get me here?" he asked, and Sasuke nodded his head proudly. "You fiendish bastard you!"

Sasuke just shrugged, still proud of himself for being so successful in his revenge. He glanced over at Naruto, noting how wet the man's shirt was. He hadn't expected Naruto to get wet other than for Sakura's little stunt. He supposed he could be nice. He started to unbuttoned his shirt, yanking it off his shoulders.

"Whoa, Sasuke, hang on a second!" Naruto said, looking panicked. "What the hell are you doing_?_!" This situation was too much like their high school days. It brought back memories he was trying to forget.

Sasuke stared at him. "…I'm giving you my shirt so that you don't have to walk around dripping onto the floor like a leaky tap," he said slowly, an eyebrow rising at Naruto's panic.

Naruto blinked before chuckling. "Oh right. Sorry, I just get a little concerned when people start to strip in front of me."

"….Right," Sasuke drawled, narrowing his eyes. "Perhaps I shall keep my nice dry shirt instead of lending it to you so you don't catch a cold on your way home."

"Hey now, don't be rash!" Naruto laughed, and held out his hand. "I'd really appreciate that. But what about you?"

"I've got a spare in my office," Sasuke said, handing over the dry clothing and crossing his arms over his bare chest. Naruto gave him a funny look, and he scowled. "Call it a habit after a lifetime of my mother making me take spare clothes to school in case something happened."

Naruto shrugged and nodded. He remembered Mrs Uchiha being that type of parent—

'_No, stop it!_' he scolded himself. '_The past is the past. Stop thinking about it. Sasuke's got his own life now, one that doesn't have memories of us together as friends or anything else. Just stop lingering on it!_'

Sasuke noticed how quiet Naruto had gotten, and saw that he was just staring at the shirt in his hands, his own partially unbuttoned. He wondered what was going on in the blond's mind, since his blue eyes had become somewhat glazed and distant.

Ever since the first day he'd met Naruto at the office, there'd been a nagging feeling in the back of his head. He wasn't sure what it was, but whenever he looked at Naruto it was like there was an image in the back of his mind. A distant memory that refused to come forward.

Sasuke knew about his accident, back when he was younger. And he was aware that he had forgotten a large portion of his past. But his father had told him that the parts he forgot were tragic and horrible, and thus were best left alone. Sasuke had agreed, trusting his father. Although, he'd never forget that that was the same night that his mother and father had had a huge argument over something before his mother asked for a divorce. Sasuke had asked Itachi what they argued over, since it looked like Itachi knew. But his brother had just sighed and told him not to dwell on it.

He wondered if Naruto reminded him of someone he used to know during the time he had forgotten. Perhaps it was someone that made him miserable?

He wasn't sure, but he did know that he always felt something different around Naruto. And it wasn't really an unpleasant feeling at all, it was just…odd. Eventually, he classified it as being blooming friendship.

Breaking away from his thoughts, however, he waved a hand in front of Naruto's face, trying to bring him out of whatever trance he'd sunken into.

"Earth to moron," he drawled.

Like a charm, Naruto's angry blue eyes moved to him.

"I'm not a moron!" he defended, shrugging off his wet shirt and tugging on Sasuke's dry one. It was tight around his shoulders, and he snickered at the fact that he had a broader frame than Sasuke did.

Suddenly the door slammed open, and a harassed looking Kiba stuck his head in. He spotted Naruto and let out a dramatic sigh, a hand coming up to press against his forehead.

"Thank God," he breathed.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow while Sasuke did the same. Kiba, noticing their expressions, elaborated.

"Dude, it sounded like he was getting murdered in here! Everyone heard him screaming, and then there was just silence! I was worried he'd died or something!" he said, waving his hand in a panicked fashion.

Naruto laughed, jumping down from the sink. He grimaced slightly at the fact that his pants were also a little damp, but he highly doubted Sasuke would be willing to give him those too. As fun as it would be to watch the Uchiha walk to his office in naught but his underwear, he knew it would be impossible.

"Nah, I'm fine. Sasuke just pulled a good retaliation prank on me," he explained. Kiba grinned, about to ask what it was. But something seemed to come back to him and held up a finger, indicating they wait a second, before he turned and stuck his head back out the door.

"IT'S OKAY EVERYONE! NO MURDER TOOK PLACE, JUST A PRANK! HINATA, YOU DON'T HAVE TO CALL 911!" he yelled, and a collective sigh of relief was heard from the floor. Chuckling, Kiba returned to the bathroom and grinned.

"So, what was the prank?"

* * *

><p>The next three days were filled with pranks not only between Naruto and Kiba, but also between other office members. It seemed the prank war was spreading, and now half the floor was on their toes, waiting for more pranks to be pulled.<p>

Temari managed to pull a wonderful prank on Sakura when she put clear, two-sided tape on the girl's chair. Sakura sat down, unaware, and when she got up again a few seconds later, everyone was privy to watching her skirt hitch down briefly before the tug made her fall back to her seat. She spent a good ten minutes trying to free herself from the chair, her face flaming red while Temari took pictures and others laughed. She swore to get revenge, to which Temari just grinned and wished her luck.

Chouji was another victim when he opened his desk drawer only to find that the bottom had been loosened, so once the drawer was far out enough, everything inside collapsed through as the bottom slipped down and created an opening. Kiba was soon discovered to be the culprit, and Chouji's retaliation was to put a tablespoon of salt, and a sprinkle of pepper into Kiba's coffee before Naruto could deliver it.

Naruto managed to prank Kiba and his old friend Kakashi. Kiba suffered through the day with having all of his pens mysteriously 'vanish', and all that was left with him was a large, multi-colour-option, Disney Princess pen with a fluffy ball tip and lots of glitter. Since those around him refused to lend him a pen, Kiba was forced to use it. Naruto would forever treasure the photo he snagged of Kiba's horrified face as he wrote his name with the glittery pen. The blond also made sure that Kiba didn't find his pens, which were hidden at the bottom of Naruto's desk drawer.

Kakashi's prank was mild considering how sneaky Naruto could be. The blond had simply taken the man's trashcan while he was in the bathroom and set it up on the edge of his door. It was convenient that Kakashi had his own enclosed office because it was a nice place to set up various pranks. When Kakashi had walked out of the bathroom and opened his office door, he'd been covered in scrunched papers and an old apple core before his trashcan fell over his head, blinding him temporarily as everyone else laughed or took pictures.

Naruto had been the one to help him get the infernal tin can off. He never expected the silver-haired man to spin around and shove it over his head a second later before shoving him away and letting him wander around blindly like a chicken with his head cut off.

Sasuke peered out of his office, taking in the people now diligently working. He had been present for each and every prank so far, and he was glad that his prediction of it keeping the workers on their toes was coming true. He was also highly pleased to know that there had not been a single mistake in their work either. If anything people were getting things done quicker and with much more enthusiasm. Whether it was because they were more entertained, or because they wanted to hurry up and finish so that they could watch out for any pranks, or plan them, was still undecided.

Honestly, to him it didn't matter. As long as the work got done, he didn't care what their motivation was.

He heard an outbreak of laughter from the right and turned his head sharply, as did several others over on this side.

Further way, by the water cooler, they could see a very angry looking Ino Yamanaka stomping her foot. The front of her white blouse was wet, showing her purple bra underneath quite clearly. Sakura was standing next to her, laughing hysterically while Hinata Hyuuga offered her a cloth to try and dry up.

"What happened over there?" Naruto asked, walking to stand beside him and looking towards the girls with a tilt of his head.

Tenten, a petite brunette who kept her hair in two tight buns, walked up to them, chuckling.

"Sakura gave Ino a cup with a small hole just under the rim. Ino poured herself some water but when she tried to drink it, it all splashed out the hole and onto her chest before she could," she explained, breaking into more giggles as Ino's screeches increased and Sakura's laughter reached a new height.

Sasuke smirked while Naruto laughed loudly. "That's awesome!"

"Say what?" Ino barked, her head swivelling in their direction while her eyes burned angrily. Both men straightened up, smirk and grin dropping like dead flies.

"N-nothing Ino!" Naruto stammered and Sasuke nodded his head stiffly, not wanting to poke the sleeping dragon right in the anus and make it even angrier than it was.

Ino glared at them for a second longer, daring them to make a comment again, before she turned to Sakura and began to argue with her. Once her deadly gaze had lifted, Naruto shuddered and Sasuke's shoulders loosened.

"Geez…women are scary sometimes," Naruto mumbled. Sasuke nodded his head in agreement, watching as Sakura stopped laughing at something Ino called her and started to argue back. He briefly worried that the two would get into a brawl right there, but luckily it seemed Temari had the same concern as she walked up to the two and started separating them.

Something brushed over his back and he flinched before turning his head. Naruto just blinked at him.

"Something wrong?" he asked. Sasuke stared at him for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, nothing."

"Okay. Well, I'm gonna get back to work okay?" Naruto waved and started to walk away. Sasuke nodded and decided he could use a cup of coffee. He took a large step forward only to feel a yank on his back and hear a loud bang that made him jump out of his skin, a small yelp escaping his mouth before he could silence it. Heads swirled to him while Naruto, the cheeky bastard, started to laugh hysterically at his wide-eyed look of panic.

After a moment, Sasuke realized that the blond had hooked the back of his shirt onto the handle of his office door, which had slammed shut when he tried to step forward.

'_The little shit got me again! Oh, it's on now!_'

* * *

><p><strong>Hmmm...an amnesia scenario huh? : That's a cliche isn't it? Oh well, who cares! :D As long as there is pranking, humour and that little smattering of yaoiness, then we're all good...right? **

**-_- fml.**

**XD OKAY! Please leave a review if you're enjoying the story, and feel free to leave ideas for pranks that you'd like to see pulled! (I've received a few cool ideas already and plan to slip them into the story in due time!)  
><strong>


	4. Frogs, Photo Frames and Fog Horns

***pouting* Well...after the SPECTACULAR failure that was the RS2 Bonus chapter posting...(only four reviews! D: Definitely noooot a good sign) I guess I should post up this next chapter for this half-assed story. *grumpy***

**Kamari: Ah, don't take it out on them. **

**¬_¬ Hmph. You'd think that, after the way everyone was asking for it, that there'd be more enthusiasm..**

**Kaoru: Or else you just totally overestimated the amount of people who actually gave a shit. ^_^**

**-_-;; **

**OKAY! Enough of my moping. Next chapter of this story!**

**Warnings: Language, pranks, mentions of past yaoi, blah blah blah, ect.**

**Disclaimer: These bitches are Masashi Kishimoto's bitches, and he's their pimp...totally...  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Kiba rubbed the back of his head for the tenth time that morning, his eyes glancing around the office. Even now he could feel Ino and Sakura's menacing stares on his back. Sheesh, he didn't think that they would get so worked up. He didn't even know why they were the ones glaring! It wasn't like he'd pulled the prank on <em>them<em>!

Though, he did feel a little bad.

Earlier that day he had arrived holding a little present. He had decided the previous day that one person had been left out of the pranks long enough, and that it was high time she got involved.

And so, Kiba had waltzed up to Hinata Hyuuga as she stood just outside her cubicle and held out the present with a smile on his face. Hinata had blushed madly, but timidly took the present with a little thank you. If he was honest, that had been the moment he first felt the slightest twinge of guilt.

Then, with everyone including Ino and Sakura watching, Hinata had tugged off the ribbon and opened the lid of the present….

Only to let out a scream when a fake frog bounced out of the container and straight at her face after having been released from the pressure the lid had put, and the spring underneath it.

Kiba had only managed to get two 'ha's out of his mouth before two fists collided with the back of his head. Ino and Sakura had not been pleased with him, especially when Hinata, red in the face from embarrassment, had run into the bathroom to avoid the looks and, maybe, cry a little from embarrassment.

It was after that that Kiba realized the reason no one had pranked Hinata.

No one had wanted to make the kind girl cry, and most likely they didn't want to have the wrath of Ino and Sakura coming down on them all day for pranking their friend.

"BOO!"

Kiba jumped while Naruto rolled into his office on his wheel-y chair, a big grin on his tan face.

"Don't do that!" the brunet snapped, hand over his heart. Naruto's grin widened.

"So, are Ino and Sakura still hunting for your blood?" he asked. Kiba nodded slowly, peering over the edge of his cubicle. Like clockwork, both Ino and Sakura's heads lifted slight from their cubicles, their angry eyes just visible over the walls and glaring right at him as if he was wearing a blinking radar wire. He gulped and sunk back down, turning wide eyes to his blond friend.

"Dude, I think they can smell my fear!" he whispered.

Naruto nodded. "Most women can," he said sagely before spinning in his chair and relaxing. "Though, you did pull a mean prank on Hinata."

"Oh come on! If I had pulled that prank on anyone else, everyone would be laughing right now!" Kiba defended. Naruto hummed, nodding his head slightly. He supposed it was true. If Kiba had pulled that prank on any of the guys, they'd have laughed it away the moment it was over. And he figured the same would be said for Temari and Tenten, since they had the same kind of humour. He pictured that Ino and Sakura would have just gotten annoyed, but only Hinata would've cried. Though, that should have been obvious.

"Even so, you should've known it would turn out like that! Not only does Hinata just look like a shy person, she stutters over almost every word, her index fingers are nearly glued together and she never makes eye contact with anyone! Add the fact that to hear her you have to strain your ears, you should've been able to summarize that she was not the type who would take a prank very well. Hinata's much to shy and gentle to take the public scrutiny that comes with being pranked. We can handle it because we know how to laugh at ourselves. I'm pretty sure Hinata's too self-conscious to be able to play off the effects of the prank with ease—"

"Alright Confucius, enough with the words of wisdom!" Kiba snapped, his guilt-levels rising. Naruto shrugged before pressing his palms together and bowing his head.

"A man will only realize his mistake when it is thoroughly rubbed in his face like lotion that seeps into the skin!" he said in a mock-Chinese accent, and the cracked up laughing at the scathing look Kiba gave him for his 'philosophy'.

"Naruto!"

The blond in question looked up, seeing Sasuke beckoning him from his office.

"Come here for a minute!"

"Coming!" he called, using his legs to shove himself out of Kiba's office. His chair rolled out of the cubicle, leaving the sulking man behind. He continued to push himself across the floor, still on his chair, until he was sitting beside Sasuke. He tilted his head back, smiling widely at the raven. "You beckoned, my good sir?"

Sasuke raised a finely plucked eyebrow at him, leaning against the doorway of his office with one hand while the other rested on his hip. He scoffed at the blond's words.

"So glad that you could _roll over_ so quickly," he returned, pushing his door opened. "Wheel inside my office for a second," he continued, cracking a smirk when Naruto saluted him from his chair and then wheeled himself inside as ordered, spinning around once before stopping with his chair facing Sasuke's desk.

Sasuke shut the door behind him and walked back over to his desk, sitting down beside it in his own wheel-y chair.

"I just needed to go over these proposals with you. The higher ups needed two signatures, and while Itachi usually had me as a second signature, he's not here. So, I'll have you as my second signer," he said as explanation, shifting through several papers. Naruto nodded absently, uncaring. Sasuke finally found the right papers and handed them over. "Just read over the proposal and see if there's anything out of place. Then sign the designated area and—"

"I've done this before, Sasuke," Naruto cut in with a smile. "Red-tape is practically my job-description."

Sasuke smirked. "Isn't it with all of us on the ninth floor?" he asked, starting to read over his own papers. Naruto chuckled and nodded, starting his job. They lapsed into silence, each man reading over the documents carefully to make sure that there were no mistakes or inconsistencies. The slow tick of a clock on the wall was the only other sound, though occasionally the shifting of paper joined in.

Naruto reached the end of his page and glanced up, taking in the office. He hadn't been inside of it often, since Itachi didn't really call him in. The older Uchiha usually just came to him in his cubicle, since it was so close to the office anyway. He could see that this office was mainly Itachi's however, since there were several items that belonged to the older Uchiha. Like the red and white fan hanging from the wall, and the golden cigar case lying next to a picture frame…

His eyes widened as he saw the picture. It was a picture of the Uchiha family at the beach. Mikoto Uchiha was smiling pleasantly at the camera. Itachi was smirking down at Sasuke, who was a teenager in the picture. Itachi's hand was ruffling Sasuke's hair while the younger Uchiha was glaring up at him. Fugaku was next to Itachi, standing between him and Mikoto. But unlike the others, his eyes were staring, or more like glaring, off to the side. Sasuke's left arm was half cut out of the picture…and Naruto knew why.

He used to be in that picture. He had been standing next to Sasuke, grinning at the camera happily. Sasuke had been holding his hand while glaring at Itachi for screwing up his hair. And Fugaku had been glaring at him….because Fugaku had never accepted their relationship. He'd always just brushed it off though, like Sasuke told him to do whenever he mentioned the problem…

But this picture….

"T-that's a nice picture," he said, unable to stop himself. Sasuke looked up from his papers, eyes moving to the frame. He nodded slowly, staring at it.

"Yeah. Apparently it was taken during a family trip."

'_Not true. It was just a normal Saturday picnic at the beach that your mom planned,_' Naruto thought. "Oh, that's nice. But…why is your arm cut off?" he asked, wanting to know why Itachi had cut him out of the picture. It had been bothering him from the beginning, how the Uchiha never explained why they hadn't let Sasuke remember him.

"Oh, my father did that. He said that some hooligan tried to mess up our photo, but luckily the cameraman caught the picture before they could completely trash it. He cut out the ugly blur," Sasuke said, remembering the explanation his father had given him when he'd asked the same question.

Naruto's fingers clenched tightly on the document in his hand. '_I should have guessed that he would….He never liked me….It's no wonder he didn't bother letting Sasuke remember me. But why hasn't Itachi or Mikoto tried to help him remember? Mikoto liked me, I know she did! And Itachi's never had a problem with me either, has he?_'

He wanted answers so much, but the one person who could give them to him was away on a business trip, and he couldn't ask Sasuke because the raven didn't know. And even if a memory did come back, all that would happen is Sasuke would most likely be unable to work due to having a relapse. Or worse; he wasn't sure what the extent of damage could be, but Itachi had been worried enough to ask him to lie about something that was, in his opinion, very important.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, noticing how tightly the blond was clenching the papers. Blue eyes snapped to him, and the fingers relaxed immediately, along with Naruto's facial expression. He went blank, as if a mask was pulled on his face.

"Right. Sorry. I've finished reading and it's all fine. Where's a pen?" he asked robotically. Sasuke slowly pointed to a pen lying to the side of the desk, blinking rapidly when Naruto snatched it up, signed the documents, and then roughly shoved them onto his desk.

"Hey, are you okay—"

"Fine. Just hungry. See you later boss," Naruto said, not looking at him as he stood up and wheeled his chair out of the office. The door shut behind him with a snap and Sasuke was left staring at the wood in confusion. What had made the blond so angry? Things had seemed fine one second.

He looked over at the picture, recalling that Naruto's sudden mood swing had occurred right after they discussed it.

'_Why would he get irritated over the picture?_' he wondered.

* * *

><p>Kiba strained his ears as he sat in his little cubicle. He could hear the usual office noises coming from all around him, but one noise in particular was making him nervous.<p>

And that noise was actually _the lack_ of noise coming from Naruto's little cubicle. It was unlike the blond to be quiet for so long. In fact, he hadn't made a sound since he angrily rolled back to his office. Kiba had spent a good twenty minutes contemplating the idea of asking him if he was alright. But then he'd worried that it was just another prank waiting to bite him in the ass.

But now he wasn't sure. He could almost feel the upset waves oozing from Naruto's office space, and his concern for his friend was beginning to override his concern for a prank.

Hesitantly, he peered over the separation.

Naruto was staring at his computer, his arms folded before him and a very faraway look on his face. His eyes were glassy and distant, and his lips were pulled down into the slightest of frowns. Kiba matched the frown with one of his own. It looked like Naruto wanted to cry but was valiantly resisting it.

"Hey, Naru?" he asked timidly. Naruto's head snapped up to him, blue eyes widening and Kiba swore that a drop of salty water dangled on the edge of his eyelash before he blinked and it vanished.

"What? Did you need something? Work?" Naruto asked, blinking quickly in the hopes that he wasn't as teary-eyed as he felt.

Kiba looked at his friend, his concern increasing. He glanced around the blond's workspace, wondering if he'd gotten a letter or something that held bad news. But there was nothing to be seen. Then his eyes wandered over to the door that led to Itachi's office…or, Sasuke's office…

His eyes widened and he snapped his head around to the blond.

"Did Sasuke say something to you? Are you fired?" he asked frantically.

Naruto blinked before chuckling, shaking his head. "No, I'm not fired," he assured and Kiba sighed in relief. "And he didn't really say anything…it's just…."

Kiba hummed in question, leaning over until half of his body was tilted into Naruto's cubicle. He knew he probably looked silly, but he didn't care much. Naruto obviously needed to talk to someone, and he was going to be there for his friend.

"…There was a picture on the desk. It was of that Saturday at the beach, do you remember?"

Kiba remembered. After all, he had been at the beach that day too, though he and Naruto weren't as close then as they were now. He'd been there with his sister and mother, and seen Naruto a few yards away, hanging out with the Uchiha family.

"Yeah, what about it? What, did you look like shit?" he asked, grinning.

Naruto's face fell. "I didn't look like anything….I'd been cut out of it."

Kiba's body whipped around until his abdomen was cutting into the wall as he gaped. "Say what? Why the hell would Itachi do that?"

"He didn't do it, apparently. Fugaku did," Naruto said bitterly, crossing his arms again and sulking. "I knew he never liked me, but to go as far as forcing me to remain unremembered? Surely that's too harsh!"

"Hells to the fuck yeah!" Kiba said, standing up and walking into Naruto's cubicle. He grabbed the back of the blond's chair and wheeled him out into the hallway so that there was more room to talk. "But why hasn't Itachi said anything? He never had issues with you, did he?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't know why no one has bothered to let Sasuke remember me," Naruto sighed and rubbed his eyes. "But I suppose it doesn't matter in the end. It's all in the past now, so who cares?"

Kiba growled, slapping his hand away. "Don't give me that bullshit! I know you man, and it's as easy to see as a pink elephant in a black box that you're still hung up on Sasuke."

"I am not hung up on him!" Naruto defended, frowning. Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Fine. You're still crushing on him. Whatever you want to call it. The fact remains that you still feel gayness for him," he poked Naruto's chest as he said this, earning a glare, "and you want him to, at the very least, remember he once had gayness for you too."

"I'm pretty sure calling our feelings 'gayness' is offensive," Naruto growled, shoving Kiba's finger away and rubbing the spot he'd prodded. Kiba shrugged, uncaring.

"Doesn't change the fact that gayness was felt."

"You're an idiot," Naruto stated before slumping in his seat and sighing. "But, what's your ultimate point?"

"My ultimate point is that it's high time you got some answers! You deserve to know why you haven't been remembered!" Kiba insisted. They were so caught up in their discussion that they didn't notice how the rest of the office grew quieter around them as someone snuck their way.

"How am I supposed to find out? I don't have Mikoto's number, nor do I even know if she's still alive, Fugaku is a CEO of this company and would probably fire me if I dared to show my face to him in person, and Itachi is off in Africa playing bongo drums and skinning zebras for all we know! I can't ask Sasuke because he doesn't freaking _remember_, and there is no one else here that could give me answers!" Naruto insisted, crossing his arms while Kiba copied him and leant over him.

"And that is where you are wrong, my dear douche-bag!" he said proudly. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"How so, you dick?"

I'm certain that Tobi could tell you!" Kiba declared proudly. Naruto gaped at him in pure horror.

"Tobi? You mean that psychotic, multi-personality wack-job that was imprisoned last year for assault and battery? Why the hell would I ask him? He'd probably maul me before I could get the first question out!" he gasped. Kiba chuckled, shaking his head.

"No no! Don't forget that Tobi has his nice personality too! We just have to talk to him when he's not in a deadly mood!" he reminded him, big smile still in place.

Naruto scowled, ready to argue once more, but he finally noticed the person standing right behind Kiba. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped.

"Oh…"

Kiba blinked, noticing the change in Naruto's face. Before he could ask what was wrong, however, a noise that practically deafened him for life blasted from right behind him. He let out a loud, high pitched scream as he jumped forward, launching himself right onto Naruto's lap. The chair rolled back a few feet before it tipped over, sending both men crashing to the floor in a mass of pain and groans.

Laughter erupted around them and Kiba groaned, trying to hear properly after the noise of the fog-horn, because that's what it sounded like, died down. Slowly, he turned his head to see who had pranked him, and his jaw dropped when his eyes landed on non other that Hinata, standing with a sweet smile on her face and one hand daintily clutching the little horn device.

"P-Payback is a-a b-bitch, I b-believe the s-saying g-goes!" she stammered, a blush on her cheeks even as her lilac eyes twinkled mischeiveously.

Kiba gaped at her before he turned his head to look at Naruto. The blond's expression matched his own.

Then they both burst out laughing, joining in the noise already rocketing around them.

"That was good," Naruto laughed, wiping at his eye. "Hell, I saw you and I still got a fright!"

"My heart nearly jumped out my chest!" Kiba said, climbing to his feet. He held his hand out for Hinata to shake. "A worthy retaliation, my dear."

Hinata giggled sweetly, and shook his hand. "T-thank you."

"I hope you know, however," Naruto piped up, standing and grinning evilly. Hinata's face grew nervous as he took a step forward. "...That this means war."

* * *

><p><strong>Myeah... : Noooot much to say...**

**Review please? :)  
><strong>


	5. Phone Calls, Videos and a Painful Trip

**Heya everyone! Soooo, sorry it's quite late...(even though there isn't a set update time) but yeah...Aside from suffering some writer's block (sometimes just looking at the keyboard makes me depressed) but I also recently got a hold of the Saints Row the Third game...and it's EPIC! :D So yeah, I've been indulging in that. (still failing maths, but meh, numbers whatever...((translation: I'm already screwed, might as well rollercoaster my way down))**

**Although, the game wouldn't work on my pc...I got sooo frustrated...I'm talking about that frustration where you start laughing like a crazy person seconds before bursting into tears because it just seems so fucking unfair...and I'm not exaggerating when I said that after my numerous (there were MANY) attempts to fix the issue and the game still wouldn't work...I crawled into my bed, turned off the lights and just...sobbed for a little bit. Yes, I was so defeated...  
>Then an angel appeared. WEll, not really...but at the time it felt like it. My sisters computer is ..er...more advanced? More updated? Whatever, it's better than mine, and she offered to install the game on hers to see. It worked, so she said that I could play the game on hers and she would watch her moviesseries/do whatever on my computer during that time. So we have an agreement. And this is one of the reasons I love my sister. :) She can be awesome when she wants.**

**Anyway yeah...XD I'm seriously winging this story...I even had to read over some of the chapters more than once to make sure I was keeping some sort of a story line. **

**Warnings: Same as always.**  
><strong>Disclaimer: NO DAMMIT!<strong>

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><p>Sasuke groaned as he rolled over, hand slapping mindlessly against his side table as he tried to find the source of noise that dared to interrupt his slumber.<p>

His hand locked around his cell phone, which was vibrating and alerting him to the fact that he was getting a phone call. Bleary eyed, he glanced at the screen before flipping it open, only realizing as he said a gruff 'Hello?' that he still had no clue who the hell was calling.

"Hello, little brother."

Oh.

"Hn…I didn't know Hell had cell phone services," he grumbled sleepily, and smiled slightly when he heard Itachi's chuckle.

"I'm certain the people of Africa would be rather insulted that you call their grand continent Hell."

"Where are you, exactly?" Sasuke asked, blinking and checking the time. It was quarter past six. Much too early for his tastes.

"Kenya. But I didn't call to talk about my location, little brother. How is the company doing?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's the same as always. As far as I know, there haven't been any new projects; just the usual stuff to take care of."

"Mhm, and how is our precious floor?"

Sasuke smirked. "It's…interesting."

"Interesting?" Itachi's voice faded, indicating that he was now holding the phone away from him. Sasuke snickered, picturing his brother staring at the phone as if it had started speaking some alien language. "My connection must be bad. I almost thought you called the Ninth floor..._interesting_."

Sasuke laughed softly. "No, you heard me right."

"Who's the culprit behind this madness?"

Sasuke sat up, running a hand through his hair before he tossed his duvet off, deciding that he was up and he might as well start getting ready. Maybe he could make a nice breakfast instead of the usual toast and coffee he normally had.

"Naruto Uzumaki is the mastermind behind it all," he replied and then pulled away to yawn widely.

"….How is Naruto? Is he doing well?" Itachi asked, his voice suddenly sounding quite…sad?

Sasuke blinked before his eyes narrowed in confusion. "He's fine…as far as I know. He's doing his work, just like everyone else, and there's nothing particularly bad to report about him. Why? Are you concerned he's going to mess up the floor matters?"

"Not at all. I'm just concerned about his well being," Itachi's voice was distant, as if he wasn't truly aware that he was talking. Sasuke pegged it to him being preoccupied by something on the other end. "I know it's hard for him to be there, so I was just making sure he was doing okay…"

"Why would it be hard for him to be there?" Sasuke asked. His mind flashed back to the previous day's incident, where Naruto had become upset for some unknown reason. He knew that the picture on Itachi's desk had something to do with it.

"No reason." Itachi's voice was back to its usual state and Sasuke realized that the other had finally gotten past whatever was distracting him. The sharp edge to his tone made the younger Uchiha wonder what Itachi was hiding.

"Why are you interested in Naruto's personal life?" Sasuke asked, grabbing some pants and a shirt to wear after he'd had a shower later.

"Is it wrong to wonder about the goings on of a long time employee?" Itachi's voice was short, indicating that he wanted the topic dropped.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yes, because there are other long time employees on our floor and I'll bet you can't even remember their full names."

"Says the man who can't even remember his own…never mind."

Sasuke scowled darkly. "That's a low blow Itachi! It's not my fault I forgot a shitload of stuff!"

"I know. I'm sorry Sasuke, I shouldn't have even brought it up," Itachi said softly, his voice sounding regretful. Sasuke sighed, deciding that he wouldn't keep nagging Itachi anymore. He walked into the kitchen, opening his fridge to see what he could eat.

"It's fine. And to answer your question, Naruto seems fine. I mean, we don't really talk about anything else but work, but he appears to be fine. Although, yesterday…" he trailed off, remembering Naruto's sudden mood swing.

"What happened yesterday?" Itachi asked curiously.

"Well, we were going over some proposal papers that needed signatures in the office, and he suddenly got very short and moody….I'm not sure why, but I think it had something to do with the picture on your desk. You know, the one of our family trip that dad cut up?"

"He was in my office?" Itachi asked, his voice strained. Sasuke blinked slowly, holding a carton of milk in one hand.

"Yes? I'm using it while you're away, and we were going over the documents in there…."

"I see…so he saw the picture…." Itachi's voice was faraway again, and Sasuke wondered if he even realized he was still on the phone. "Sasuke, do me a favour and put that picture in a drawer for me?"

"What? Why?"

"Just do it you little shit."

"What'd you call me?"

* * *

><p>Naruto rubbed at his eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep still lingering in the corners. He'd been up late last night, thinking over what Kiba said. He still wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to ask Tobi, but then again it wasn't as if there were many options laid before him.<p>

'_Stupid, complicated, stubborn Uchihas,_' he thought bitterly, staring at his computer screen. He robotically clicked on the new emails, checking over them.

"RAWR! I FEEL GOOD!" Kiba sang loudly, appearing right behind him and striking a pose. Naruto jumped and spun in his chair, eyes wide as he watched Kiba start to dance as the music played from his phone.

"I knew that I would, now!" Kiba continued, thrusting his hips a little to the beat. "Feel so good!" He turned, swaying his hips from side to side. "I knew that I would, now-ow!" He spun again, pumping both hands in the air. "SO GOOD!" his hips cocked from left to right. "SO GOOD! I got-a YOU!" he took steps forward with every burst of music until one knee was resting on the edge of Naruto's chair, between his legs and his hand was balancing on the top. Naruto stared up at his friend with a look of pure bewilderment. Kiba was smirking at him, the tattoos on his cheeks stretching and his sharp canines visible.

Finally, Naruto spoke.

"….What the fuck?"

Kiba laughed, closing his phone and stepping back. "Just thought I'd make sure you started your day with something entertaining!" he said. Clapping sounded behind him and he turned, seeing a small gathering of early employees clapping and smiling at him. He grinned, bowing low and dramatically. "Thank you, thank you, you're a beautiful crowd!" he said, looking up. "Well, not you Chouji. You're just fat."

Naruto, like the brilliant survival expert that he was, dived under his desk while Kiba, the natural chicken shit he was, sprinted towards the nearest window to try and escape as a furious Chouji barrelled after him like an angry bull.

Temari caught the whole thing on camera, and the video went Ninth-Floor-Viral in under an hour.

Thankfully things had calmed down somewhat when Sasuke arrived. The raven stepped out of the elevator and took in the area, taking careful note of Chouji's grumpy face as he went about making copies. He also noted that Kiba's complexion had seen better days, and the brunet seemed to take extra care when walking near the larger man.

Sasuke walked to his office, briefly glancing towards Naruto's little cubicle, but the blond wasn't there at that moment. He walked into his little enclosed space and the first thing he did was put the picture away in Itachi's desk drawer, like the man had asked. Sighing and adjusting his tie, he sat down and just relaxed for a moment, thinking over his conversation with Itachi as well as various things, including his accident when he was younger. His father had always told him that the parts he didn't remember were parts of his life that were filled with misery. When he'd asked what misery, his father always told him it had to do with someone at his school. Sasuke trusted his father's word since the man had been the only one there for him during his recovery. His mother and brother were there, but not as much. Although, that was most likely attributed to the fact that the two of them had been working hard while his father, already being so high up in business and having underlings to do his work for him, could spare more time.

Sasuke frowned. He hadn't really spoken to his father in a while now. Perhaps he should try to catch up with him at some point?

A knock on the door made him look up. "Come in."

Sakura entered the office, holding several folders. "These were just faxed through from the top floors. It looks like you're going to have a lot of things to sign," she said, smiling slightly. Sasuke sighed heavily, rubbing his temple.

"Brilliant."

Just then there was a high pitched shriek from outside, making both occupants in the office jump. Sakura rushed to the door, flinging it open as Sasuke stood from his desk. The two of them were stunned to see Ino blushing madly, her hands wrapped around a grinning Shikamaru's neck even as she shook him wildly.

"TURN THEM OFF! TURN THEM OFF!" Ino was screeching, a look of pure mortification on her face.

"What the hell's going on?" Sakura asked as she and Sasuke stepped out of the office, looking around to see what Ino was going on about. It was then that the laughter became apparent, and Temari turned her computer screen to the two of them, revealing a video of a three year old Ino playing in a sprinkler outside in nothing but a pair of bright pink and yellow polka-dot panties. Looking around, they easily saw that every computer screen was showing the same video, confirming that Shikamaru had hacked into the system to spread it through the floor.

"But Ino, you look so cute!" Tenten giggled, watching the video and grinning as little-Ino tripped and started to cry over getting mud on her bare chest.

"TURN IT OFF SHIKAMARU!" Ino screamed, the red flush on her face spreading to her ears and down her neck as she throttled her childhood friend. Shikamaru laughed.

"How am I supposed to turn them off when you won't let me go?" he asked, and immediately Ino dropped him back into his seat. The normally lazy man chuckled as she made several sounds of mortification behind him while he stopped playing the video and let everyone's screens go back to normal. "This is exactly why I never let you keep any of our childhood home videos that had me."

"You're supposed to be my friend!" Ino snapped, her face still bright red. "What kind of childhood friend does that?"

"I'd imagine every kind of childhood friend would be, at the very least, tempted to do that," Shikamaru counted casually, still grinning.

While the rest of the office laughed and teased Ino, Sasuke leant against the wall and looked around. He still couldn't see Naruto, and it bugged him. Had the blond not come in that morning? That familiar nagging feeling in the back of his head started up again, and this time he felt that it was telling him to be worried. He was, in a strange way, worried. Though, why he was so worried about Naruto was beyond him. The blond was probably sick or something and just needed a day off to recover…right?

"Inuzuka," Sasuke said, walking over to said man who was printing something out. "Did Naruto come in today?"

"Hm? Oh yeah he's here," Kiba said, pulling the newly printed page out of the machine and placing it with the pile. "Why, do you need him for something?"

"No, I was just curious," Sasuke said, looking around to see if he could spot the elusive blond. Kiba stared at him for a second before his eyebrows rose and a sly smirk stole over his face.

"Aww….are you worried boss?" the brunet asked, and chuckled at the annoyed look he received. "Does your little heart ache with worry over our delicious little blond and his health? Do you wish to ride off on your mighty steed to find him and save him from whatever ails him? Do you wish to hold him in your strong arms and protect him from all the evils of the world?"

Sasuke stared at the man with a look that clearly showed he thought Kiba had lost his mind. Kiba just stared back, an expectant smile on his face. Contrary to what Sasuke may be thinking, Kiba wasn't insane.

He was just reciting a speech that he'd heard Sasuke make a long time ago, when they were back in high school and Sasuke had been teasing the shit out of Naruto like he always liked to do. Kiba remembered that time. One of Naruto's other friends had made a comment about how much Sasuke worried over him and was always trying to protect him even when there was no danger, and Sasuke had jokingly made the speech to embarrass Naruto, who was right there at the time. Kiba had been sitting a bit to the side, not as close to them as he was now, but he'd never forgotten that speech simply because of how strangely sincere Sasuke had been under the laughter.

Sasuke stared at his co-worker, confused and a little nervous about his sanity. But what confused him even more than Kiba's apparent insanity, was the fact that there was something familiar about those words. He'd heard them before, from somewhere….but when and where? And from who?

Kiba's smile slowly faded as Sasuke remained unresponsive. Eventually, he sighed, guessing that his sneaky attempt to make Sasuke remember something, anything, had failed. He knew he was being somewhat reckless, putting Sasuke in the path of possible remembrance.

'_I get that no one wants him to have a relapse and end up back in hospital in a self-induced coma as he gathers back all his memories, but I mean come on! It's not like the things he's forgotten are bad memories! I think they're all just paranoid for no reason,_' he thought, nodding to himself slightly. Perhaps…perhaps if he just pushed Sasuke in the right direction, then the raven would do the rest on his own? No one could be blamed for that, right? If he just…_accidentally_ prodded Sasuke towards the right doorway that would lead him to the memories he missed? After all, it could happen at any time right?

Kiba's mind whirred with possibilities while his smile returned. "Sorry for freaking you out boss! I was just kidding. Naruto had to go deliver some stuff to the sixth floor or something. He'll be back before you know it!" Without giving the man a chance to reply, he turned and walked back to his office.

'_Operation: Flashback now in motion!_' he thought with glee, and started chuckling to himself. '_I feel so secret agent now!_'

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><p>Naruto stretched his arms above his head as he walked towards the elevator on the sixth floor. He'd had to deliver several spreadsheets and other official documents that had way to many small letters and large words for him to care about. While he walked, he thought over, once again, the idea of going to see Tobi. Something about it just didn't seem right with him.<p>

'_Maybe it's because I gave Itachi my word that I wouldn't try to pry over anything. Although, he never did explain why Sasuke wasn't allowed to remember me. Then again, if Fugaku had a say in it, I wouldn't be surprised to know that he was the one who made sure I wasn't remembered…Ah, but back to the topic, there's no guarantee that Tobi would tell me anything anyway. He probably doesn't even remember me himself, since we never really spoke much….It's a bad idea anyway. I already decided to leave things be, so I'll just carry on like I have been._'

He nodded to himself in firm resolution as he waited for the elevator doors to open. Yes, the past was the past in his opinion. He just had to get over it because even if Sasuke did remember things, there was no set guarantee that anything would change. Sasuke probably had a girlfriend or something already, and Naruto wasn't the type to try and encroach on something that he had no business in anymore.

The doors slid open and he stepped inside without really looking, pressing the ninth floor number and waiting.

"Good day, Mr. Dickless!" a blandly cheerful voice said. Naruto's eye twitched violently as his head creaked around to look behind him. Standing in the corner of the elevator, wearing the fakest smile anyone had ever seen, was Sai Root. The man was tall, white as a sheet with jet black hair and equally black eyes, and had a habit of wearing a plastic smile whenever he was faced with someone. Naruto had had several run ins with him during his time working in the building, and he had come to one very profound conclusion…

Sai was a dick.

"Hello, Sai," he growled, turning back to the front.

Sai continued to watch him with that fake smile on his face, and Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up in irritation as they slowly traversed from one floor to another.

"So, how has your life been?" Sai piped up as the eight floor light lit up, indicating they were having a stop.

Naruto sighed, crossing his arms and leaning against the back of the elevator. "It's been good. Nothing really big to report," he said scratching his cheek. He had decided early on not to talk about the prank war. While he knew that no one on the ninth floor would have an issue, there were people on the other floors that may have an uproar about it being 'unprofessional' or something similar.

"Well, that's to be expected from a dull moron like you," Sai said blankly, nodding his head in agreement to his own statement. Naruto growled loudly, fists clenching.

"Watch what you call me, you jerk," he warned.

"Or what?" Said taunted, his smile back on.

"Or I'll punch you in the face, that's what!" Naruto said, raising a fist to show. The doors slid open and he quickly lowered his hand, leaning against the wall as a woman in a suit stepped inside, holding several large folders.

"Could one of you press the ninth floor button?" she asked, trying to keep a hold on them.

"The ninth floor? That's my floor, I could take these for you if you'd like?" Naruto said, smiling and holding out his hand.

"Really? That would be so helpful!" she said and they exchanged the folders to his arms. "Just give them to your floor manager."

"Will do," Naruto smiled and she stepped out of the elevator, hurrying back to continue her work while the doors slid closed and the elevator started to move again.

Naruto was humming to himself when he felt an arm wrap around his waist. His head snapped around to Sai, whose smile had turned evil.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Your arms are full and you can't drop those or else the papers will get scattered and that poor woman will get in trouble! Which means," he leant forward and blew some air into the blond's ear. "I can torment you all I want and walk away without a black eye."

"This is harassment!" Naruto yelped, brows drawn in anger. "And I'm not a woman, so why the hell are you getting so touchy?"

Sai shrugged. "Women's reactions aren't nearly as funny as a man's. They either shriek and aim for the nuts or they like it and encourage you more. With guys, there's so many different ways for them to react. Some are speechless, some are disgusted, some find it hilarious, others find it awkward, some become confused, some take it in stride and play along, some get violent, some become nervous, and even others enjoy it because they're secretly gay!" Sai explained, grinning from ear to ear. "You seem to be a mix of angry, stunned and confused."

"I think you need professional help Sai," Naruto said sincerely, ignoring the hand that was now running over his backside. If Sai was just looking for a reaction, then he wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Besides, he'd be lying if he said things like this disgusted him. Although, there's only one person he'd like to—

'_God dammit Naruto, GET OVER IT!_' his mind roared and he pulled away from the man beside him, growling as he did so.

"Sai, you're lucky my arms are full," he snapped as the elevator doors opened and he stepped out backwards. "And if you ever put your hand on my ass again, I'll shove your head up your own!"

He saw Sai smile and wave as the doors slid closed and turned, freezing when he noticed that almost everyone around him was staring at him. Someone even dropped their empty coffee cup. His cheeks flushed a little under the scrutiny, knowing that everyone present now knew he had been molested, somewhat, by Sai.

'_Brilliant,_' he thought, rolling his eyes and sighing heavily. "As you were!" he barked in an Army General's voice, and snickered when some of the older men straightened up automatically. "Nice reflexes Kakashi!"

"Shut up," the silver-haired man growled, and he made sure to smack the folders in Naruto's hands from the bottom. Naruto let out a high pitched squeak as he fumbled with them, desperately working to stop any pages from falling. Luckily, Kakashi hadn't hit too hard, and he got away with no damage.

"You're an evil man!" he called after the other, but Kakashi just waved away his words, fully aware of his own evil potential.

Naruto huffed and started to walk towards Itachi-er-Sasuke's office. He was about three meters away when it happened.

'_I sense oncoming doom!_' he thought, feeling the sudden chill in the air. He was about to stop walking, about to look around for the source of disaster, when something caught his foot.

"Naruto—" Sasuke was ahead of him, walking closer to maybe help with the folders, and Naruto tried desperately to warn the raven of the oncoming disaster.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE DUDE!" he screamed, and Sasuke visibly started, hands coming up as if to catch something while his eyes grew. But Naruto's warning was too late. The blond was falling forwards, the thing holding his ankle pulling more so that there was no hope of rescue. The folders were starting to fall from his arms as he toppled towards Sasuke, who was now looking rightly scared as his brain realized what was about to happen.

Pain.

"TIMBER!" a voice yelled, and then there was a crashing sound as Naruto finally landed right on top of Sasuke, knocking both of them to the floor as the folders in his arms fell, papers getting scattered. Pain erupted in Naruto's knees as they hit the ground, and his elbows too. He was certain that Sasuke had hit his head if the way it bounced was any indication, and he wondered if there was going to be a bump.

But then all his wonderings were brought to a stop when Sasuke's bouncing head collided with his, his forehead smashing against Naruto's. But that's not what made him freeze. It was the fact that, for a few seconds there, their lips had brushed together in a faint, barely existent kiss.

Naruto used his hands to launch himself backwards as if he was burned, his eyes wide and his lips tingling. It was not a tingling that came from a bruising kiss, but rather that tingle that came from a feather-light touch, one that you weren't sure had even happened but it stayed with you for ages.

He didn't know if Sasuke had even realized what happened. Maybe the only reason he was aware of it at all was because of the fact that he knew the feeling of Sasuke's lips from their younger days. His body was hyperaware of all the places they'd come into contact and he cursed it for that. He was supposed to be over it already, to have forgotten and moved on, but that just didn't seem to be happening.

"Ow," Sasuke groaned, sitting up and placing both hands on the back of his head. There was indeed a bump forming there, and he could already feel the headache coming on. Looking up, he saw Naruto looking lost and, for some reason, a little scared. "What the hell Naruto? Are you seriously that clumsy?" he asked in irritation.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts, the words bringing him back to the present. "Hey! That wasn't my fault! Someone grabbed my ankle!" he yelled in defence and turned, looking around. His eyes easily found the culprit, lying rather comically underneath his desk. Kiba grinned and saluted him.

"Better pick up and sort out those papers, Naruto!" he said jeeringly.

"No, Inuzuka, I think you better pick up and sort out these papers," Sasuke replied darkly. Kiba blinked rapidly as the words caught up and his jumped up only to hit his head on his desk.

"Ouch! Wait, why me?"

"You made him drop them, you pick them up."

"But I don't want to!"

Sasuke glared at the childish brunet. "I'm the boss. And I say pick them up," he snapped, pointing a finger at the ground. Kiba pulled a face at him and Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "If you don't start now, I'll tie your hands behind your back and make you pick them up with your teeth."

Kiba growled, but crawled out from under his table and began to snatch the papers, checking which order they went in while Naruto and Sasuke climbed to their feet, dusting themselves off.

"Sorry about knocking you down," Naruto mumbled, rubbing his elbow. He was sure it was going to bruise. Sasuke shrugged.

"Wasn't your fault," he said and then fixed the blond with a look. "…Are you okay?"

Naruto smiled slightly, though there was a definite hint of sadness to it. "I'm fine boss. I'm perfectly…fine," his smile stretched a bit before he turned and went back to his desk, staring on his next assignment.

Sasuke stared at his back for a moment before turning and heading towards his office, ignoring the grumbling man on the floor. He stepped inside his office and closed the door behind him. It was only then that he let his head hang and a sigh tumble from his lips. His hand lifted up, fingers brushing over his mouth as he recalled the very brief contact he'd had with Naruto's lips during the fall. It had been so slight, so….barely there…that he figured it wouldn't even matter. But somehow that tiny little bit of contact made his body feel weaker and his lips were almost aching.

He run a hand over his face. Why did that tiny little bit of contact make him feel so strange? It was almost a feeling of…longing? He stared out at his office absently, wondering why Naruto always invoked such strange feelings in him. And earlier with that smile….he knew it was fake. He knew Naruto was lying through his teeth when he said he was 'perfectly fine'. And Sasuke felt almost angry at that. Something about having the blond lie to him was like getting prodded violently in the back of his head. It made him annoyed and it made him want to smack Naruto and make him tell the truth.

'_What is it about him?'_ Sasuke wondered, staring out into the office thoughtfully. '_What is it about him that draws me to him? Why do I feel like….I want to hold him?_'

Outside the office, Kiba was still grumbling as he picked up and sorted the papers. However, as he lifted two sheets of paper to check their numbers, he allowed a grin to slide over his face.

His plans were only beginning.

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><p><strong>Sneaky Kiba is Sneaky... :3<strong>

**What other plans does he have in store? What will Sasuke do? What will NARUTO do? WHAT WOULD BUFFY DO?.! ... O3o Cookies for reviewers?**


	6. Pink Office Pandemonium

**Hello! Here we go with the next chapter! Things get a bit more involved in the 'plot' side of things...after all, this story isn't going to be very long, so we've got to start getting somewhere. XD (I was attacked and mauled by plot bunnies as well! Evil bastards!)**

**Warnings: pranks, language, plot-including-light-angst-ish-ness...ect...**

**Disclaimer: These bitches belong to Pimp Kishimoto**

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><p>Sakura and Ino, along with Hinata all stifled their giggles as they crept towards their destination. It was extremely early; hardly any of the employees were there yet for their floor, but they needed to get an early start if they wanted to be successful.<p>

"Quickly, quickly!" Ino urged, a large grin on her peachy face. Sakura stifled a laugh as they hurried down the empty aisle. They passed one office and Ino froze, stepping back to stare at the man inside. "Shikamaru? Why are you here so early?" she asked, shocked. It was so unlike her lazy friend to get up so early just to come to work.

Shikamaru's head didn't lift from his arms, and so Ino poked him harshly in the side. His head shot up as he snorted, eyes bleary. He looked at the three women staring at him, and then at his surroundings. A soft groan escaped him as he let his head thump down.

"Fuck, I fell asleep and slept at the office again!" he groaned and Ino was horrified.

"You've been here all night? Shikamaru!"

"I didn't mean to!" the man defended through a yawn. He looked up, blinking. "Why are you guys here so early?"

It was then he spotted the items they held in their hands, and a thin eyebrow rose.

"What…the hell?" he asked slowly.

Ino grinned, holding up her items. "A prank!"

Shikamaru blinked, looked at the items before letting his head go back down. "I saw nothing."

The girls laughed, leaving him be as they hurried down the aisle again. Their target came in sight, and they zoomed over to it, surrounding the poor little office cubicle like vultures over a delicious dead carcass left out for them.

Ino and Sakura grinned while Hinata had a small, mischievous smile on her lips. Simultaneously, they looked at each other and Sakura held up her items.

"Let's do this."

Two hours later, the office was getting full as the employees arrived. Kiba yawned and stretched, his hand accidentally knocking against the blond head of his friend. Naruto scowled at the rude smack, but Kiba just shrugged. They were both tired and were not looking forward to the day…but for two different reasons.

Naruto was not looking forward to seeing and dealing with Sasuke. After their almost-not-really-there kiss, he just wanted to lay low for a while. He had almost decided to call in sick, but since Kiba was a psychic and cruel bastard, he arrived at his apartment and hauled him out of it, ignoring his half-assed excuses of having a deadly toe fungus.

Kiba was not looking forward to the day because he was going to have some serious trouble with Naruto and Sasuke. For his plans to work, he needed them to interact more, and judging by Naruto's behaviour this morning (toe fungus? Seriously?) then that was going to be quite difficult. But he would persevere!

They stepped out of the elevator, waving to co-workers as they began to walk. A minute later, Naruto tugged on Kiba's arm, his blue eyes staring around them.

"Kiba…is it just me, or is everyone looking at us like we're a couple of clowns doing hilarious tricks?" he asked softly. Kiba looked around as well, noticing that everyone around was indeed looking at them with suppressed mirth.

"….Oh shit!" they said in unison and broke out into a run, racing to their offices. When they were a few feet away, they both skidded to a stop, staring at their little cubicles in horror.

"Oh my—"

"Fuck."

Pink was everywhere. Pink wrapping paper had been plastered to the walls of their cubicles, fitted on the floors. Their computers were wrapped in pink, only the screen left uncovered. Even the keys had pink outlining them. Kiba's picture frame, holding a photo of him and his pet dog Akamaru, was now decked out in a bright pink and purple, flower-frame. Naruto's ceramic frog-pen holder now had a pink tutu, and all of their pens and pencils were wrapped in pink too. Their chairs had been covered with fluffy pink covers, and Kiba's lip trembled when he saw that his tiny little pot plant had been attacked, the little leaves wrapped in pink tissue paper.

"What the hell?" Naruto breathed, walking into his little office. He gingerly opened up a drawer and let out a yelp. "Even the inside of the drawers are covered!"

By this point everyone around them was laughing hysterically, and as Kiba picked up his picture, looking at the photo with horror, Ino, Sakura and Hinata walked up, grins on their faces.

"How'd you boys like the make-over?" Sakura asked, laughing when they turned horrified faces to her.

"It was YOU!" they yelled, pointing accusingly at the three. The girls just laughed along with everyone else. Naruto sat down in his newly-pinked chair, staring at his office space in a mix of wonder and horror.

"How long did this take you?" he asked, the shock beginning to wear off and the appreciation of a good prank sinking in.

"About three and a half hours. We managed to get a little extra help when Tenten and Temari arrived," Ino said, sitting on Kiba's desk and gleefully twirling a fluffy pink pen in her fingers. Kiba placed his picture down, looking around the office with an unreadable expression on his face.

"This is bullshit!" he suddenly yelled, startling the other three. Hinata's smile slipped off her face, worried that they had gone too far. Naruto was looking at Kiba questionably. Sure, he wasn't a fan of the pink, but the prank had been good.

Kiba rounded on the three and pointed a finger in their faces. "Utter bullshit is what this is!" he repeated, and Ino scowled.

"Excuse me—"

"You amateurs! Where the hell are the Hannah Montana poster and the Justin Bieber shrine?" Kiba interrupted, slapping his fist into his palm. "You only _half_-girlified our offices!"

Everyone was silent before Naruto threw his head back, laughing loudly. It only took a few seconds longer for the girls to join in as Kiba started listing off all the things they should have added to make the prank even better.

* * *

><p>Sasuke tilted his head, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth hanging open a little comically. His hand holding a cup of coffee was slackening, a drop of the brown liquid escaping the rim of the mug and sliding down the side while his other arm hung loosely.<p>

"Uhm…did I…not get a memo or something?" he asked slowly.

Kiba looked up from his computer, grinning brightly as he realized why Sasuke looked the way he did. He wouldn't have been surprised if the Uchiha's brain had exploded from the overload of pink.

"Nope. Just a prank, boss-man!" he said and Sasuke stared at him stupidly, the words fighting through the mass of pink in his brain before registering. He straightened up, a little 'ah' of acknowledgement being heard. The Uchiha let his gaze travel from Kiba's office to the head of blond hair that was focused on the computer screen. He stepped towards Naruto's space, about to say hello when he noticed that the blond was on the phone.

"Yes….Yes, I sent through that fax to the fourth floor already," Naruto was saying, holding the phone between his shoulder and his ear while his fingers typed rapidly. Sasuke quieted himself, not wanting to disturb the blond while he was at work. Instead he simply stood there, sipping his coffee and staring at the back of Naruto's head.

"No, Kurosaki-san, I haven't received anything like that," Naruto said, rolling his eyes as the guy on the other end of the phone continued to drill him like this was an interrogation. Honestly, some people got so worked up when things didn't appear clear. "No, it was not sent to the wrong floor….No, I'm certain that it was not stolen by someone-for crying out loud Ichigo! Are you serious? Who the hell would steal a photo-shoot schedule? Just check the folders again, and if it's not there then check the area around the fax machine or something!" he snapped, losing his patience. There was a snide remark from the man on the other end and he scowled. "I don't care what your models are saying! Rukia's not the boss of this company you know!" more snarling and Naruto rubbed his temple. "Found it? Yeah? I told you so. Now fuck off Carrot-top!"

He pulled the phone away, hearing the other man yell "Carrot tops are green you stupid fuck!" before he put the phone down and leant his head on the pink surface of his desk.

Sasuke smirked as he listened to Naruto's heavy sigh of annoyance. "Tough customer, Naruto?"

Naruto shot up in his seat, spinning around to find Sasuke staring at him with a smirk. He blinked, calming himself before he could blurt out something stupid, and just nodded.

"Yeah, the fourth floor is just having a tiff," he said, brushing his hair back. Sasuke nodded, humming thoughtfully.

"They tend to do that. Anyway, I need these processed," he handed Naruto a folder that had been resting nearby. "Please get that done stat."

"Sure thing," Naruto took the folder, flipping through it. He stood up, knowing he would need some photocopies, and was about to walk past Sasuke when he was stopped by an unexpected interruption.

"WAIT!" Kiba yelled, suddenly appearing between them. His hands landed on the side of their faces, pulling them closer so that their heads collided against his painfully. Sasuke grunted and Naruto yelped, but Kiba was stone-faced, staring in horror at something out the nearest window. "Do you see that?"

Naruto cracked open one eye, peering out the window. He saw the usual view of buildings, dreary sky and streets far below them. Nothing strange.

"See what?" Sasuke asked, clearly as confused as he was.

"THAT!" Kiba stressed, his eyes bugging wildly as he forced them closer. "Can't you see it? It's _huge_!"

"See what? What is it?" Naruto asked, focusing his eyes as best he could. He really couldn't see anything strange. A glance to the side showed Kiba wearing the same horrified-yet-awestruck look and Sasuke was squinting, trying to see whatever it was that the brunet was so amazed.

"Kiba, I don't see anything," the Uchiha said.

"You guys are going nuts! It's RIGHT THERE!" Kiba shook their heads, lifting his own out from between and slamming their heads together. "Look closer!" he demanded.

Naruto and Sasuke peered out the window, their heads still nearly pressed together as they both tried to see what Kiba was talking about.

"Can you see anything?" Naruto mumbled, and Sasuke shook his head.

"Nothing strange," the Uchiha said, inching closer to the window.

"Oh my God, it's getting closer!" Kiba said from behind them, sounding frightened. "I think we should leave or something! If that thing gets any closer it's gonna smash the window!"

"What thing? What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto asked, exasperated. He and Sasuke moved right up to the window, heads pressed together as they bent forwards trying to see the oncoming 'thing' that Kiba was yapping about.

"Is he talking about the pigeon?" Sasuke asked, pointing to a fat pigeon on the building opposite them. It was pecking at something on the roof.

"I don't know. Kiba, are you talking about the pigeon?" Naruto asked, his eyes still searching the skies.

"No, not the bloody pigeon! Are you fucking _blind_? It's practically three feet in front of you!" Kiba screeched and Naruto growled, stepping forwards and pressing himself right up against the window. His nose was squished against the glass as he turned his head this way and that, trying to spot the terror that Kiba was going on about. Sasuke stood behind him, pressing against his back as he too tried to locate what the brunet was afraid of.

"Can you see it?"

"I don't even know what I'm looking for!"

"Apparently it's frightening and getting closer."

"The only thing getting closer is that cloud, and it looks like a fucking rabbit. Hardly terrifying!"

"Maybe it's in a building?"

"The fat chick drinking coffee over there?"

"She's walking away, not getting closer."

"The bald guy sleeping in his chair?"

"Again, you idiot, that's not getting closer."

"The dude busy doing his secretary?"

"That is disturbing."

"E-er…Boss?"

The two men spun around, the position they were in making it quite awkward to do. Naruto ended up being half in Sasuke's arms and half hanging in the middle of nowhere while Sasuke looked unbalanced. Sakura was clutching a large stack of files in her arms, her eyes looking at them with concern and hesitance.

"May I inquire as to why the two of you are practically humping the window?" she asked slowly. Naruto went red while Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. They straightened up and Naruto launched into a poorly-planned explanation.

"No but Kiba was…and there was a thing…and Kiba screamed and there was… a fat pigeon and something about getting closer and…bunny clouds…and a fat chick walking away while a dude did his secretary on his desk…"

Sakura's expression had to be one of the most comical things either man had ever seen, but the humour was lost since it was directed and caused by them. Naruto's face darkened another shade of red as he wisely shut his mouth, knowing he would undoubtedly dig them deeper into a pit of embarrassment should he let it continue. Sasuke had a faint tint of red on his cheeks as he adjusted his tie.

"No, you see, Inuzuka claimed he could see something," he turned to look at Kiba, his hand freezing in mid-point and his eyebrow starting to vibrate when he saw that Kiba was back at his pink desk, typing away as if nothing had happened. "Kiba…"

"Hm? Did you need me for something boss?" Kiba asked, turning to look at him with an innocent face.

"What the hell did you see earlier?" Sasuke growled. Kiba blinked and Naruto placed a hand over his eyes, predicting what was going to come out of his friend's mouth. Damn Kiba.

"See something? I'm afraid I haven't got a clue what you're talking about Sasuke. I've been working here all along," Kiba said sincerely, a pleasant smile on his face.

Temari's tongue poked out from between her lips as she carefully and painstakingly painted her right hand nails. There was absolute silence around her, allowing her maximum concentration on her task.

"INUZUKA!"

A violent stream of curses slipped from her red lips as the ear-splitting bellow practically shook the entire ninth floor. Her hand swerved, smearing black nail polish over three of her fingers and down the back of her hand.

"Ah man!" she groaned, staring at the mess in despair. Grumpy, she stood, looking over the top of the aisle wall that was also the back of her cubicle. A blond brow rose up at seeing the ninth floor's temporary boss Sasuke physically throttling Kiba while Sakura tried to pry him off and Naruto stood to the side, arms crossed and face blank as he witnessed his friend killing his best friend. Temari watched for a few moments longer before letting out a huff and slumping back down in her seat.

"I didn't catch that prank on camera. What a pity…it must've been good for Sasuke to act like that."

* * *

><p>Once the huffing and puffing Uchiha had calmed down, the day went on as normal. There was more paperwork than usual to shift through, so pranks had been kept to a minimum. Other than the morning pranks, the only other one that was pulled was Kakashi pranking both Sasuke and Sakura. He called the pink haired woman, putting on a rather impressive Sasuke-impersonation. Sakura, believing her boss had called her urgently into his office, had slammed through Sasuke's door in time to see him walking out of his en suite bathroom, hands still in the act of pulling his zipper up.<p>

Needless to say that there was a brief moment of outraged yelling from both ends-

"WHY DID YOU JUST BARGE IN?"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU ZIP UP BEFORE LEAVING THE BATHROOM?"

-before Sakura left the office, her face the same shade as her hair and Sasuke loudly declared that the next person who tried to prank him that day would get their asses handed to them along with a little pink slip of doom. After that, pranks were put on hold as everyone got to work, not wanting their enraged boss to start whipping out the menacing pink slips.

Naruto wiped some sleep out of his eyes as he went through another batch of emails. Half of it was spam and his eyebrow threatened to vanish into his hairline after the amount of Viagra and penis enlargement adds he had accumulated. Deleting yet another spam message, his other eyebrow rose up as an idea for a prank struck him. Smirking evilly, he made a mental note to remember where those emails were going.

"Honey!" Kiba rolled into his office on his chair, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. "I'm home!"

Naruto didn't blink as Kiba hugged him; he'd already learned to live with the brunet's strange behaviour.

"So, anyway Naruto, I'm thinking we should go speak to Tobi this afternoon!" Kiba suggested casually. In reply, he got an elbow lodged into his face and wheeled back with a cry of pain, clutching his nose. "OW!"

"What? No, Kiba, I'm not going to go see Tobi," Naruto protested, ignoring the fact that he had just elbowed his best friend in the nose. It wasn't like it was the first time.

Kiba sniffed, wriggling his nose to make sure it hadn't been broken. Pleased that it wasn't, he wiped beneath it to check for blood. It seemed he'd been lucky today, as there was no further damage other than the throb and the bruise that was most likely forming.

"Why not? You want answers don't you?" he asked, turning to stare at his blond friend accusingly. Naruto sighed, shifting in his seat and looking away.

"No, I've decided that I'm just going to forget about it. I've been doing fine with the way things have been going, so I'll leave it like this. Besides, Sasuke's happy now. I don't need to risk making him unhappy by trying to force those memories on him. He didn't remember them and that's that. Life goes on," he said with a tone of finality and turned around, going back to work.

Kiba sat on his chair, staring at his friend's back. Slowly, his look of shock morphed into one of anger and with a growl he slammed his foot into the back of Naruto's chair. The blond coughed violently as his chest was crushed between the chair and the table edge, and he rubbed at the spot as he turned.

"What the hell—"

"What happened to you?" Kiba snapped, shoving his chair away as he stood up. Naruto blinked, surprised at the apparent anger he could see on his friend's face. Kiba towered over him, his lips pulled back into a snarl. "When did you turn into such a little wimp?"

"Excuse me?" Naruto growled, his own temper rising.

"You heard me! The Naruto I know wouldn't have given up so easily!" Kiba snarled, jabbing a finger violently into Naruto's face. Naruto's own lisp pulled back as he shoved Kiba's hand away, standing up and matching the brunet's height.

"There's a difference between giving up and putting things in the past, Kiba!"

"Oh please, that's the most pathetic excuse I have ever heard!" Kiba threw his hands in the air, eyes stormy. They were attracting attention as the workers nearby had stopped to turn and stare at them in shock. Hinata was standing in her office, a hand over her mouth as she saw the quickly rising tempers between them. Even Ino was looking worried, her fingers twirling around each other as she secretly glanced towards them, seeing the way their anger was flaring.

"It's not an excuse!"

"It is an excuse and you know it! Why don't you want to get answers? Is it because you're scared?" Kiba taunted, using his small height advantage over Naruto and sneering into his face. "Afraid that you won't like the answers you get?"

"What? No, I'm not scared of anything—" Naruto yelled, only to be interrupted by Kiba's derisive snort.

"Not scared of anything my ass!" he scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning away from the blond. "I can see it in your eyes! You're terrified to know the truth behind it all, because you're scared that perhaps the reason is something valid!"

"Kiba, don't even start—"

"Maybe you're scared that the memories you cherish weren't at all as special to him as they were to you!"

"Kiba—"

"Maybe the reason you were left forgotten was because _he didn't even want to remember_!"

The sudden crack of flesh on flesh made Hinata scream, her eyes wide as she watched Kiba fly backwards and slam into the opposite wall. He slid down slightly, a hand coming up to hold his nose. He looked up and dodged to the side in time to avoid the fist that hit the plaster just beside his head. Naruto's chest was heaving, his eyes wide with fury and his face stained red in anger. Kiba stared at him, his face unreadable.

Then he spat right onto Naruto's face, shocking both the blond and everyone watching.

"Grow some balls and get some damn answers. Then call me when the real Naruto is in town," he growled and shoved. Naruto stumbled back, hitting the side of his cubicle. He watched with wide eyes as Kiba straightened his tie before grabbing his jacket and walking off. The door to Sasuke's office opened, revealing the wide-eyed raven who had been watching things secretly through his keyhole.

"Inuzuka, where are you going?" he asked the stomping man. Kiba stopped and pinned Sasuke with a very nasty look.

"Home. I'm taking the day off."

"What? You can't just take a day off as you please!" Sasuke said, frowning. Kiba rounded on him and shoved a finger in his face.

"Then fire me," he stated challengingly. Sasuke gaped, not saying a word. Kiba just narrowed his eyes and turned, continuing his raging steps towards the elevator. Hinata seemed to stumble in place before she started to walk after him. The elevator door shut before she could reach it, and she pressed the button several times before giving up and turning to the stairs, vanishing from sight.

Sasuke stared towards the elevator before slowly turning to look at the rest of the office. Everyone was silent and shocked, still processing what had just happened. Naruto was still leaning against the side of his cubicle, his head down and his hair covering his face.

"Get back to work!" Sasuke yelled suddenly and the startled workforce quickly turned back to their tasks. Sasuke turned his attention to Naruto, seeing he hadn't moved an inch. That same strange feeling clenched in his chest and he knew that the blond was hurting; not physically but emotionally. Kiba was his best friend after all.

Clenching his fists, he walked out of the office and warily approached the statuette blond.

"Hey…are you okay?" he asked softly, trying to see beneath Naruto's hair. "Are you hurt—"

"Don't," Naruto whispered. Sasuke stopped, looking at him in confusion. A tan hand reached up, wiping away at the spittle on a scarred cheek, but Sasuke saw the faint traces of another, clear liquid. The clenching came again.

Naruto finally looked up, his blue eyes glistening with anger, frustration and sadness. He looked at Sasuke, who felt as if he was dumped into a bucket of ice water when the emotions increased tenfold.

"Just don't," Naruto murmured again before turning and going towards the bathrooms. Sasuke let him walk despite the strong urge to follow him, to make sure that he wasn't going to do something stupid and to make those saddened eyes go away. He stood still, staring out after Naruto's back before clenching his jaw and heading towards the elevators.

* * *

><p>Kiba leant against the side of his car, wiping at his bloody nose with his sleeve while he tried to find his car keys amidst the many keys on his chain. Honestly, he didn't even know what half of them opened, but as his mother always taught him he kept all his keys in a place where he could find them…although, considering his current predicament, that hadn't turned out too well.<p>

"Ouch," he mumbled, his nose throbbing. Naruto hadn't held back, but luckily his power had been lessened by the awkward angle he'd swung from. Kiba was lucky his nose wasn't broken, but it was going to hurt for a while.

"Kiba!"

He turned, looking up too see Hinata standing at the staircase entrance to the garage. Her hair had fallen from its bun, hanging over her shoulders as she panted for breath. He blinked, realising she must have run the whole way down the stairs. Some crazy part of his brain noted that that was extremely dangerous, as if she slipped she could have broken her neck.

Unsurprisingly to Kiba, that little part of his brain sounded like his mother.

"Hinata?" he asked, hearing how thick his voice sounded through the blood. He sniffed, wincing and wiped some more away. "What're you doing here?"

The pale woman walked towards him, still breathing heavily.

"I just…I just need…huff…..I needed to….hoo…..one second," she doubled over, hands resting on her knees as she sucked in deep breaths. Kiba blinked, looking down at her as she caught her breath.

"Er….You okay?" he asked. In response Hinata held up one finger, signalling him to wait just a little longer. He swallowed and wiped his nose again, looking around awkwardly.

"Huff! Okay, I think I'm okay now," she wheezed, straightening up and placing a delicate hand on her chest.

"That's good. Now, uh, why are you here?" Kiba asked, fiddling with his endless keys.

"I was worried about you," she said, her cheeks turning even redder than they were from her run. She fidgeted on the spot, seeming to get shy now that she wasn't gasping for breath. "That fight was…I don't even know how or why it started but…for the two of you, that was a big fight," she cut herself off, placing a hand on her forehead in aggravation. Breathing calmly, she turned to him. "Are you o-okay?"

Kiba blinked slowly before a smile spread over his face. Hinata really was a sweet girl, worrying about him after his fight with his best friend. He chuckled, reaching up a hand and gently placing it on top of her head. It's what his mother always did to him when he was younger to comfort him or to show she was proud. Kiba lightly rubbed Hinata's head, smiling through his bleeding nose.

"Thank you Hinata. And I'm okay. It's upsetting, and I'm angry with him…but things will be okay eventually," he reassured. Hinata studied him for a long time, her face worried. But eventually she sighed and nodded, letting Kiba remove his hand from her head.

"O-okay…as long as you're okay."

Kiba smiled, pleased that she cared so much for him. "I'm fine, I promise."

"Hyuuga, you should be working."

Hinata jumped a foot in the air at the voice coming from the elevator and she spun around, seeing Sasuke leaning against the doors to stop them from closing. His dark eyes were trained on the man behind her however, and she swallowed at the low level of anger burning inside them.

"B-but I was—"

"Go back to work, or go home," Sasuke cut off, his tone sharp and short. Hinata looked between him and Kiba, the latter giving her a nod of encouragement to go. She hesitated, placing her hand on Kiba's arm.

"D-don't…get fired okay?" she mumbled, squeezing his bicep before running to the elevator. Sasuke stepped away smoothly as she entered, and the doors slid closed immediately.

Now alone, the two men stared at each other. Kiba wiped his nose, knowing that his shirt was ruined from all the blood on it. He met Sasuke's simmering glare with a calm look of his own, and his lips were twitching with the effort to stop smirking.

'_Like a moth to the flame. This is easier than I thought,_' his mind snickered.

"Come to fire me, Sasuke?" he asked challengingly. A snarl took over the Uchiha's face.

"Don't tempt me Inuzuka. You're already on thin ice!"

"What's wrong with me taking my vacation day?" Kiba asked innocently, shrugging his shoulders. "In case you were under a rock during the event, I just had a fight with my best friend. Currently, I need some time off to recuperate, and I've got about a week's worth of vacation days to exploit. I'm only using one."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, walking closer. "You're supposed to give notice."

"Okay. Boss, I'm using my vacation day to take the rest of the day off today," Kiba said formally and then smiled. "You've been noted. Can I go now?"

Sasuke lunged, slamming Kiba into the side of the car and pinning him there with his arm crushing over his chest and shoulders.

"Don't get smart with me Inuzuka!" he growled and Kiba's smile slid off his face, replaced with an empty expression. "And this isn't about your fucking vacation day!"

"Then why are you here, Sasuke?" Kiba asked dully.

"I want to know what the hell happened up there! Why were you and Naruto fighting?"

"That's none of your business, Uchiha," Kiba said, anger leaking into his tone. Sasuke snarled and pressed harder.

"Yes it is!"

Kiba's eyes flashed and in his mind, a cheerleader started screaming and dancing in victory.

"And why is it your business?" he asked, a smirk barely contained behind his wall of fake anger.

"Because I…." Sasuke stopped, his expression changing to one of confusion. His hold loosened as he looked away, trying to think of why it was his business and why he cared so much about the fact that Naruto was hurting. Sure, it was one thing to be concerned for a fellow employee and friend but….he was _attacking_ Kiba! That crossed some boundaries didn't it?

"I…it's….you….he….." he was at a loss for words, unable to explain the burning anger he felt at the fact that Kiba had made Naruto sad. The brunet was right; it wasn't actually his business…and yet he felt like it was. He felt like it was up to him to make sure things turned out okay…to make sure Naruto would be okay.

Kiba reached up and, with the same gentle touch he'd used on Hinata, he pulled Sasuke's arm away from him and straightened his shirt.

"Sasuke," he began his voice softer. "I suggest you take some time and think carefully about why it's your business. Think long and hard about why you care," Kiba said and secretly smiled at the almost dazed nod Sasuke gave. He was still lost in his own thoughts, but as long as he understood what Kiba was telling him to do that was fine. "I'll be back at work tomorrow, don't worry. See you boss!" he turned, finally locating his key and opening the door. He climbed into his car, seeing Sasuke walk back to the elevator, mumbling to himself. The brunet snickered, slamming his door shut and starting his car. He looked in the mirror and grimaced at how bad he looked.

"Moron," he grumbled, reversing out of his parking spot. "He's lucky I'm such an awesome friend to do all this for him."

* * *

><p><strong>:D Kiba's such a dedicated friend isn't he? Taking a punch and everything! <strong>

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Next chapter has more plot-thingies, but pranks will resume in due time! ^_^ Please leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter and I hope you continue to enjoy!**

**See you next chapter~!**


	7. Lamenting in a Locked Room

**Hello everyone! Well, technically page eight isn't finished yet so I shouldn't be posting this, but meh...it's almost done so whatevs. :D I hope you enjoy it!**

**ALSO: There's a challenge on my deviant art page, and the prize is either a picture or a story/fanfic of your choosing, so if you haven't already seen but want to consider it, here's the link to the challenge! **

**http: /juuria66. deviantart. com/#/d4sqlkq**

**Just remove spaces. Anyway, ON WITH THE STORY! :D  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto groaned as his alarm went off, pulling him from his peaceful sleep and into the harsh world of reality. He turned over, pulling the covers up and trying to ignore the blaring siren on his side table. He really didn't want to get up today. Even more than that he really didn't want to go to work.<p>

Basically, he didn't want to have to see Kiba or Sasuke….his best friend was angry with him, and the second man was the cause of it all, even if he didn't know it or intend for it.

But what Kiba had said yesterday held some truth. Naruto was slightly scared of finding out why he was left unremembered. After all, he knew that often in cases of amnesia, the mind suppresses memories that were damaging to the health, or traumatizing. Since Sasuke seemed to remember everything except him, it made him wonder if he had been wrong…if Sasuke had never felt the same for him.

He sighed, hating his morose thoughts, but it was something to be considered. Maybe he wasn't remembered because he wasn't worth remembering. The more he thought along those lines, the more things seemed to make sense. It would explain why Itachi had asked him not to recall the memories, yet still been supportive of him. The elder Uchiha did look regretful when he made the request….maybe he was really looking out for him as well as Sasuke?

He rolled over again, growling, and slammed his hand on the snooze button. Staring blankly out, he thought about his previous night. He'd spent the entire time thinking on what Kiba had said, but he still wasn't sure what to do. Should he just get it over with and get answers, regardless of whether they were good or bad? Or should he let the past become the past and try to move on properly. Maybe get a new boyfriend or girlfriend. Or even ignore romance entirely?

Heaving a sigh, he pulled himself out of bed, looking at the ceiling as if asking God 'why me?'

With the pace of a man who was heading to the gallows, he got ready for work. By the time he had finished showering and getting dressed, he knew he was going to be cutting it close. But he didn't really care about coming in late; it's not like there was much penalty for him anyway.

Finally, when he could no longer delay his leaving since he had officially counted all the toast crumbs on his plate as well as done the dishes and fixed his digital clock, he grabbed his keys and headed for his car after locking up. The drive to the office was like a journey through a haunted swamp; he jumped at every hoot and almost drove into a wall after he got lost in his anxious thoughts. What was going to happen that day? Would Kiba ignore him? Would they not speak, but instead be stuffed into an uncomfortable silence the entire day? And what about Sasuke?

Shaking his head, he parked his car and stepped out.

"Naruto!"

He jumped, banging his knee against the side of his car in the process. Cursing, he turned and saw Sakura walking towards him, looking worried.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking him over. He didn't look good at all. His skin was paler than usual, and there were bags under his eyes to indicate his lack of sleep the previous night. She could tell he was still miserable about his fight with Kiba, but she hoped it wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"I'm fine," Naruto responded blandly, rubbing his injured knee. He offered an empty smile to the girl. "Just got a lot of stuff on my mind."

Sakura nodded slowly, seeing through his words easily. But she knew he wouldn't say any more to her, so she could only follow him as he dragged himself towards the elevator. They stood in silence, the ride up to their floor tense on her side. She wanted to talk, but had no idea what to say to cheer him up. She didn't even know what the fight had been about, so it wasn't like she could offer advice.

The doors dinged open and she heard Naruto take a deep breath before starting to walk. Sakura followed him all the way to his desk. It was no longer covered in pink, since the cleaning crew had been told to get rid of it after the girls took down most of it.

Kiba was already at his desk, his face resolutely turned to the screen while he typed away. Sakura folded her arms over her chest, watching nervously as Naruto seemed to stare at the back of Kiba's chair before lightly sighing and moving to his own desk. The two were facing away from each other, back to back in their cubicles as they worked. Sakura looked between them, feeling tremendously uncomfortable. She was so used to seeing them face to face, talking and having fun even as they worked. This silence and distance was new and not at all welcome. A glance around showed that most of the employees nearby agreed as they sent furtive glances towards the pair. The fight was still fresh in everyone's minds; it wasn't something they had ever seen, nor ever expected to see. Naruto and Kiba had been joined at the hip since their first day working there….they had never fought, really fought, before.

"Sakura."

The woman jumped and turned, seeing Sasuke motioning to her from his office. She sent one last glance at the two silent men before hurrying over to Sasuke's office.

"Yes boss?"

"…Are they not talking?" he asked, looking at Kiba and Naruto. Sakura shook her head sadly.

"It looks like it. Naruto looks terrible too. He's got serious bags under his eyes; I'm not sure he slept at all last night," Sakura said, and then blinked. Now that she got a better look, there were bags under Sasuke's eyes too.

Sasuke frowned unhappily. As Kiba had told him, he spent most of the night before pondering why he seemed to care so much for Naruto. The result of his efforts had been a shitload of frustration and one of the most horrible migraines he'd ever had the misfortune of feeling. He knew there was something there, an answer just out of his reach. It was like having someone's name on the tip of your tongue but not being able to push it off. He had almost bashed his own head in out of pure frustration at feeling that blockade every time he tried to find that answer. Deep down he knew the reason…but he couldn't place it in his conscious mind because something was stopping it.

And it pissed him off to no end. Why couldn't he place it? What was it that he was missing? It was like a jigsaw puzzle; the picture was there, waiting to be seen, but there were still several pieces missing that made the actual image near impossible to discern.

And what's worse was every time he focused on finding that answer, his head started to hurt like crazy. What started as a headache morphed into him sticking his head into his freezer to try and numb the pain that throbbed through his skull. He must have swallowed half a bottle of aspirin by the end of the night.

"Boss? Sasuke, you okay?"

He blinked, snapping out of his thoughts to see that Sakura was staring at him hesitantly. Sighing, he ran a hand over his face.

"Yeah I'm fine. Sorry about that. Anyway, I've got some things here that need to be faxed; could you do that?"

* * *

><p>No pranks had been pulled so far, but no one in the office felt right about attempting any. It was as if the act was forbidden if the two fire-starters weren't on speaking terms. Temari was dying to pull a prank on Shikamaru, but every time she wondered when to do it, the stifling aura from the two desks to her front would snuff out the excitement and she would end up going back to work with an almost guilty feeling in her chest. It sucked.<p>

In his little space, Naruto was getting more and more miserable. Kiba hadn't even looked his way once! He had tried to argue that he should just be mad, because Kiba was so insensitive yesterday; but he couldn't find it in him to get angry. Because he knew Kiba had a point; he just didn't want to admit it.

In his own office, Kiba rubbed his temple. He had to admit that not talking to Naruto was a hard thing to do. All he really wanted to do was jump over the separation, grab the guy in a headlock and tell him to stop moping around like a girl denied a new dress, but he couldn't. He was doing this for a reason, and his efforts would get screwed to hell if he just let the air out now. He had to be patient and deal with the uncomfortable air of misery hanging around their area until Naruto finally made his move. Kiba only hoped that he hadn't made a mistake in his attempts, but he was confident. He knew how Naruto worked, and everything he had said and done yesterday had been playing to that knowledge.

His sister would scold him for being so manipulative, but it had to be done if Naruto was to ever get peace on the subject.

'_The things I do for my friends. I should get a medal,_' he thought. A sad little sigh came from the cubicle beside him and he clenched his fists to stop himself from hitting Naruto over the head and telling him not to be upset because things were actually fine between them. '_God, the silent treatment is hard to uphold! How did my mother do it all those times?_' he wondered, thinking back to the days when his mother would ignore him and his sister for hours after they had done something to really upset or disappoint her. It turned out to be something more impacting than getting grounded and yelled at. At least when she yelled at them, she was acknowledging they were still there and still visible to her. But when she ignored them as if they didn't exist, it made them feel utterly abandoned and alone, and that was enough to strike regret into them and apologize. It also left them with a serious sense of loyalty towards their important people; they didn't want to be left alone or forgotten, so they would not do the same to others.

In a nutshell, Kiba was putting himself through a kind of torture in his current mission.

"K-Kiba, I need this document to be proofread," Hinata said softly, walking up to him. She glanced nervously between them, seeing the misery hanging around Naruto like a raincloud and the tense air around Kiba. But she didn't say anything, trusting the brunet when he assured her things would be fine eventually.

"Sure thing Hinata!" Kiba smiled at her brightly, and she almost wanted to hit him when Naruto turned to look at him in shock, and then at her in betrayal. She could only shrug helplessly. It's not like she was telling Kiba to ignore him.

"I'll get right on that!" he said, snatching the document from her hand and grinning at her.

Naruto stood up, leaving his cubicle with a grumpy expression as he pushed past the two of them. Hinata tried to say something to him, apologise for Kiba's ass like behaviour, but Naruto was already gone before she could even start.

He retreating back vanished into the bathroom, and Hinata stared at the closed door for a second before rounding on Kiba and slapping him right across the face. His eyes bulged in shock, and there was a chorus of gasps from around them as others witnessed the shy women's actions.

"What the—"

"That was horrible!" Hinata snapped, looking very upset. Kiba brought a hand up to his cheek. He was more shocked than anything, but Hinata definitely had a bite to her slap. His cheek was starting to sting. He turned to face her fully, seeing the look on her face.

"What did—"

"Just then! When you t-talked to me like nothing was wrong! It's one thing to give him the silent treatment, but do you know how h-horrible it is when someone ignoring you treats everyone else perfectly fine? Do you know how awful that would m-make him feel?" Hinata looked close to tears at the thought of being unwillingly used to make Naruto more miserable.

Kiba sighed heavily. God, this just got more and more complicated the longer it went on. Sometimes he wondered if he should just forget it and leave it alone. But no, if he did that then Naruto would never get the answers and closure he desperately need.

"I'm sorry Hinata. I know I'm being a jerk, but believe me; this isn't easy for me either," he said stubbornly. Hinata frowned.

"T-then why don't you just say so—"

"What makes you think I'm the one in the wrong here?" Kiba asked, narrowing his eyes. Hinata faltered. Kiba gave her a look and went back to his desk. Hinata stood in the middle of nowhere, frustrated and unhappy, but she eventually sighed and moved back to her desk, biting her lip.

Kiba glanced around, taking quick note of everyone in the vicinity. Stealthily, he moved into Naruto's office and snatched up all the pens. Quickly, and with continuous glances at the bathroom door to make sure Naruto wasn't coming anytime soon, he took them apart and removed the ink, dabbing it onto a bunch of tissue's he'd stolen from a small box in Ino's office.

Once that was done, he replaced the pens back where he found them and scurried to his office. Cupping his chin, he tried to think of how to put the next part of his plan in motion. His sharp eyes spotted Sakura walking towards Sasuke's office, holding several folders in her hands that were undoubtedly for delivery. He sprung up, cutting her off.

"Sakura, I need your help!" he said softly, yanking her to the side. She stumbled, but regained her balance and looked at him.

"What? With what?" she asked, bemused.

"I need you to steal some stationary from Sasuke's office. Make sure it's something he uses often so that he'll need to go to the supply closet and get more!" Kiba instructed in a hurried whisper. He saw the bathroom door open and winced, moving out of sight so that Naruto wouldn't see him.

"Why the hell must I do that?" Sakura hissed, glaring.

"Because, it's necessary if you want Naruto to be happy again!" Kiba argued. Sakura blinked and scowled.

"Maybe if you apologized for your behaviour yesterday, stealing shit wouldn't be needed! And how would stealing Sasuke's—"

"Why the hell does everyone think I'm the bad guy here?" Kiba snapped, and Sakura went quiet. He sighed, rubbing his temples in aggravation. "Look, there's a reason I want you to do this. And it is a sort of apology, but it's necessary! Please help me!" he begged.

Sakura stared at him for a long moment before she sighed. "Fine. I'll take his stapler. Is that okay?"

"Perfect. Thank you!"

"Whatever," she said, shaking her head as she walked to Sasuke's office and vanished inside. Kiba grinned evilly and slowly walked to his desk. He saw Naruto printing out some papers and quickly sat down, hiding a smirk. Listening, he waited as Naruto sat down. Soon the scratching of a pen was heard, and he held back a laugh at the soft curse Naruto let out when he realized none of his pens had ink. He waited for the blond to stand before peering around his office, watching as Naruto walked towards the back to the store room. It was really just a large closet that they stacked stationary and other needed items in. He looked towards Sasuke's office, counting down. Soon Sakura emerged, her hands suspiciously lodged into her jacket pockets. She sent Kiba an accusing look and he smiled back. A few seconds later Sasuke came out, looking annoyed as he moved towards the store room that Naruto had just walked into.

Kiba resisted the urge to give a gleeful cheer at how easily things were falling into place. He would almost say that someone else was helping him without his knowing, but no one else knew what he was doing! Not even Sakura really knew, he had just given her a quickly woven blanket of a tale to get her to cooperate.

Smugly stuffing his hands into his pocket, he quietly followed after the boss. Sasuke stepped into the storeroom and Kiba hurriedly, yet quietly closed the door behind him. He then leant against it, whistling an innocent tune and gaining a weird look from Tenten as she walked passed.

* * *

><p>Naruto grumbled curses under his breath as he searched for a pen. He couldn't believe that none of his pens were working. He wondered if this was a prank from someone, but he couldn't decide who. Normally he would blame Kiba, but considering the fact that the man wasn't even looking at him today, it didn't seem likely he was going to pull a prank.<p>

Finally spotting a pen he could use, he snatched it up with a triumphant cry.

"Aha!" he said, glaring at it. Something dropped behind him and he almost had a heart attack, spinning around and brandishing the pen like a sword.

Sasuke was standing behind him, a little further down the shelf. The raven's hands were hovering over the lid of a container that had obviously dropped. He was looking at Naruto with wide eyes, obviously surprised.

"Oh…I didn't know anyone else was in here," he said and then looked at the pen in Naruto's hand. "…You're not going to impale me are you?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Naruto blinked, looking at his pen and then Sasuke. He gave a little chuckle, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he got out of his attack stance.

"Sorry, you just surprised me," he apologised. Then he realized exactly who was in the room with him, and he became uncomfortable. "Well, I got what I needed!" he said, and quickly strode past. Sasuke blinked, feeling Naruto stride past and without thinking he reached around, grabbing his wrist and halting him.

Naruto jerked at the sudden touch, refusing to turn around and face him. "….Do you need something?" he asked, his voice forcibly calm. Sasuke bit his lip in frustration with himself. He couldn't understand what he was feeling, and it was annoying as hell. If only he could figure out what he was missing, then things would fall into place.

"I just…you….ugh," he sighed, pressing his free hand over his eyes. "Are you okay, Naruto? And I mean really okay?" he asked, deciding to just snuff out that little question that had been gnawing at his sides.

"I'm perfectly fine."

Sasuke growled, spinning around and yanking on Naruto's wrist, forcing the surprised blond to step back into his line of vision.

"That's bullshit!" he snapped and crossed his arms, glaring at Naruto. He didn't know why, but he could tell the blond was lying and that fact just made him want to punch someone…namely the lying idiot in front of him. "You're obviously not okay at all!"

Naruto frowned, not liking being in this situation. It was like the fight with Kiba, but just from a different angle.

"What's it to you whether I'm okay or not? It's not like I'm anyone special to you!" he argued, wincing at his own words. Sasuke growled.

"You don't know that!" he said involuntarily and then stopped, wondering why he did. After all, what was Naruto to him? The question was still in the air, and he had yet to give himself an honest answer.

Naruto was silent, staring at him with wide eyes. He couldn't believe it; his life just went from bad to worse. Why did Sasuke have to say something like that, right then? Would the torture ever end? The idiot didn't remember him, and yet he was saying things like this? It just made Naruto feel even worse about having no answers.

"Oh?" he said slowly, voice soft and deadly. "Then what am I? Huh? What the fuck am I to you?"

Sasuke scowled at his language and tone, crossing his arms. "You're….You're an important friend, I know that much."

"You know that much," Naruto repeated sarcastically. He had thought that hearing he was an important friend would be good, but instead it just made him feel utterly shit. He knew now that if he couldn't be what he once was to Sasuke, then he couldn't be anything with Sasuke. It was together, or nothing. He hated it, wished it could be different, but his feelings wouldn't change. He couldn't just be friends with Sasuke, because he still loved him as more….and the pain of not being able to be that special someone in Sasuke's life was too much for him to deal with. He'd lost Sasuke once…he wouldn't be able to lose him to someone else, especially if it happened right in front of his eyes.

Sasuke knew he had said something wrong, but he didn't know what. He thought that admitting Naruto was an important friend was a good thing. But it only seemed to worsen Naruto's mood.

"Do you hate me that much Naruto?" he growled, clenching his fists. A look of hysterics crossed the blond's face.

"Hate? Hate you? I wish!" Naruto snarled and then silenced himself, knowing he would end up giving some information that was best left buried if he continued with that conversation. "I have all I need. Excuse me, but I have work to do."

Sasuke glared at him as he stomped past, grabbing the handle and pushing.

….And pushing….

And…..

"Who locked the door?" Naruto gasped, pushing the handle and pressing against the door once more. But the door refused to move. Sasuke spun around, forgetting his anger in light of this new situation.

"What do you mean?"

"The door won't open!" Naruto stressed, pushing again and again.

Outside, Kiba gritted his teeth as he held the door closed. '_Not until I get what I want, dammit!_'

Sasuke walked up beside Naruto and tried the handle. He pressed against the door, meeting a strong resistance. With a small growl he reared back and slammed his shoulder into it.

Kiba's mouth dropped open, eyes going squint as pain flared up over his side. '_Ho-oly shitballs that hurt!_'

"It won't budge," Sasuke said, stepping back and scratching at his hair. The two of them stared at the door in confusion, wondering how to get out. Their best bet was to make noise and wait for someone to open the door, but the supply room was at the back of the offices, in a more secluded area.

"Hello? Can someone open the door?" Naruto yelled, knocking on the wood. There was no reply, and nothing happened after a few minutes. He sighed. "Just perfect."

Sasuke frowned, wondering why the door was locked. He didn't remember closing it when he walked in, and Naruto had come in before him.

"…Do you think this is a prank?" he asked. Naruto shrugged half-heartedly.

"I don't know, but today I'm not in the mood for pranks," he said sourly. Sasuke scoffed, crossing his arms.

"You started it," he reminded. The withering look Naruto sent him amused him and he smirked. "You did."

"Go to hell!" Naruto snapped, turning and kicking the door violently. Still it didn't open and he growled. "What did I do to deserve this shit, huh? Did I kill an innocent puppy in a past life or something? Is that why I just can't catch a God damned break? First my family, then my school, _then_ my love life and _now my best friend_! Nothing in my life is going well! Why the fuck am I even bothering_!_?" he ended up yelling, slamming his fist against the door out of pure frustration.

Sasuke's eyes were wide as he listened to the blond rant. When Naruto finished, his gaping mouth shut with a clack and he stared at the man hesitantly. What could he say now?

A sniff made him jerk back to see Naruto had a hand over his eyes, his shoulders shaking. He was in tears.

Naruto bit his lip harshly, trying to stop crying. He wasn't even crying because he was particularly sad. He was just so _frustrated_ he was at the point of tears; one of the worst feelings in his opinion. He just wished that for once things would've gone his way, but it seemed like every time he found some kind of contentment, it was taken away or ruined. God, was he doomed to misery?

He looked up when something landed on his shoulder. Turning his head, he stared rather pitifully at the concerned raven behind him. It sucked how Sasuke was acting so worried about him. Why couldn't he just be the asshole he was when they first met and didn't know each other? Why did he have to act like the Sasuke that used to hold his hand when they walked, kiss him hello and goodbye every time they saw each other and hold him close so often? It was like rubbing what he once had in his face and then holding it out of reach.

"Why do you care?" he asked softly, staring at Sasuke with an almost desperate need to know.

Sasuke considered the question, trying to find that elusive answer. Once again, as it came to the tip of his tongue, his head started to hurt. His eyes scrunched and he brought a hand up, pressing it against his head while he sighed in pain. He missed the sad and knowing look Naruto gained for a moment at seeing it.

"I don't know why," Sasuke eventually said, still pressing a hand to his forehead to try and fight off the growing migraine. There was silence for a moment before he looked directly at Naruto. "But whatever the reason…I just know that I do."

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the sincere and almost determined look on Sasuke's face. No words were exchanged after that, and not a single move was made. Sasuke kept his hand on Naruto's shoulder, just watching him silently while Naruto looked at the ground, trying not to break down once more.

Outside, Kiba smiled and stepped away from the door, letting it fall open slightly before he high tailed it back to his desk. Soon after Naruto and Sasuke emerged, having noticed the door opened. Sasuke was giving accusing looks at everyone he passed, trying to find the culprit behind their temporary lock-in. Naruto kept his head down as he walked back to his desk. He stopped, staring at Kiba's back for a moment before looking at his feet.

A moment later, he took a deep breath and walked into Kiba's cubicle. He slapped the man on the back. Kiba turned, his face in a scowl. Naruto ignored it, staring back and taking another breath before speaking.

"I want to go talk to Tobi today."

Kiba looked at him, face smoothed of expression. And then, slowly he grinned wide and true, standing up and wrapping his arm around Naruto's neck and shoulders.

"YES! That's what I'm talkin' about!" he cheered, securing Naruto in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles against the top of his head. Naruto yelped, struggling but Kiba held on. Everyone was watching them, some in surprise and others with relieved smiles on their faces. Hinata placed a hand over her heart, breathing out in happiness while Sakura grinned.

"Kiba! Ouch!"

Kiba laughed, letting go and waiting for Naruto straighten up. Despite his complaint, the blond was smiling like an idiot and he eagerly bumped his fist against Kiba's when the other man offered.

"C'mon Uzumaki! Let's go get some answers!"

* * *

><p><strong>See? Kiba's a big softie. I loves him. :3<strong>

**See you next chapter! Reviews would be loved, well fed and given a good home! :D**


	8. Getting Some Answers

**Hi everyone! Sorry it's late, but I'm going through some major writers block...hell I'm going through an inspiration block, period! D: So just know that future chapters might take a while to be done...since this is also the last pre-done chapter... :/ I've only started chapter 9...so yeah...**

**Please forgive me! *bows***

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Naruto finally gets some answers in this one! :D**

* * *

><p>Naruto held onto the dashboard of the car, his knuckles white from the grip he had. He was pressed back in his seat, eyes wide and teeth buried in his lower lip as he tried very hard not to scream out in fear. The tyres of the car screeched wildly as it turned sharply once more, swerving around an SUV with the horns blaring and cutting off a little Sedan.<p>

Kiba had half a sandwich in his mouth, chewing on it as he used one hand to spin the wheel wildly and the other to give drivers around them the middle finger.

"Piss off asshole!" the brunet yelled through his sandwich to a raging trucker who was hooting at their car wildly. He swallowed his bite, adjusting his sandwich before making a hazardous turn around a circle, their bumper barely missing the hood of another car.

"K-Kiba, I know y-you want to get there q-quickly, but this is a bit m-much isn't it?" Naruto stammered, and then let out a squeak when they started to slide around another corner. "FOR FUCK'S SAKE MAN THIS ISN'T TOKYO DRIFT!" he roared hysterically.

Kiba snorted, stepping on the gas and zooming them down the main road. He didn't normally drive like this, but it was his way of punishing Naruto for being an idiot and taking so long to grow his balls back. Also, he loved watching Naruto practically wet himself. He just wished he could've had Sasuke in the car too; he would love to see how the Uchiha took his crazy skills.

All too soon for Kiba(and not soon enough for Naruto) they arrived at their destination.

"Konoha Mental Institution for the Unstable and Dangerous," Kiba read out and then turned a smirk to Naruto. "Do you think we got the right place?" he joked.

Naruto punched his shoulder, looking up at the building with great trepidation.

"How are we going to see Tobi?"

"I called in and made a visitor's appointment," Kiba said, climbing out of the car.

"YOU WHAT? WHEN?" Naruto yelled, shocked at how efficient Kiba had been. Kiba bent down, flashing a peace sign through the window as he grinned.

"When Sakura started chatting your ear off after we stopped fighting!" he informed before slapping the door. "Now hurry your ass up, we've got a time limit!"

Naruto climbed out the car, staring at his friend in shock. "Why do I feel like everything that happened in the past two days was all planned by you?" he asked. Kiba's eyes moved to the sky, an innocent smile on his face.

"Now that's just silly Naruto," he said sweetly. "How on Earth could it have all been planned by me?"

Naruto stared at him suspiciously before snorting. "You're right. You're far too stupid to have planned everything in such a short time."

Kiba nodded before the actual words registered and he spun around. "HEY! I'm so much smarter than you, you bastard!"

They continued to argue as they walked to the entrance, passing the security booth where the guard glared them down as he signed them in and took down their names and license plate. Naruto grew quieter and quieter as they got closer, and Kiba was left to talk to the brutish man behind the front desk.

They had made it in time, and a male nurse and a security guard were called to lead them to the visiting room. They were told to wait while the two men went to fetch the insane man, and Naruto was restless. He wiped his hands on his pants, tapped his foot, hummed and drummed his fingers on the table and shifted in his chair continuously.

Kiba sat beside him, arms crossed and a bored expression on his face. But slowly, as time wore on and Naruto continued to fidget, a tick developed in his jaw. It grew worse and worse as every second passed and still Naruto was fidgeting. Kiba could feel his patience waning, and he was right on the verge of snapping and punching the idiot beside him when the door opened. Like a cat held above water, Naruto went rigid, arms flat at his sides and back straight as a beam. Kiba would have laughed at his behaviour if it had been any other situation, but considering what hung in the air with this meeting, he knew that laughing would definitely not be the right thing to do. Instead, he benignly patted Naruto's arm in a gesture of comfort to remind him that he wasn't doing this alone. Naruto didn't relax, but at least he started breathing again.

The guard led Tobi to his seat, waiting for him to take it before stepping back and looking like a statue while the nurse simply hovered nearby like a confused ghost. For a moment, the three men sized each other up, taking in their appearances and making notes.

Tobi's hair had grown. It had once been short and wild, similar to the hairstyles both men currently sported. But now it hung over his shoulders and hid half of his face. His hands were unbound, but clasped tightly together as if he were in handcuffs and Kiba wondered if it was a conditioned habit or if he just naturally clasped his hands in that guilty manner.

Finally, after the assessments of the involved people were over, Tobi spoke.

"….Not to seem rude, but who the hell are you guys?" he asked blandly.

Kiba smirked. "I never really knew you personally, but we did meet once. I'm Kiba Inuzuka," he said holding out his hand. Tobi blinked, his head tilting to the side before he slowly reached over and shook the brunet's hand. Kiba sat back and then turned his head. Naruto was staring at the table determinedly, his shoulders trembling slightly. Sighing, Kiba realized that he was going to have to do most of the talking…at least for now.

"And who's he? The trembling leaf over there?" Tobi asked, pointing at Naruto. The blond flinched, still looking away. Kiba gave him a few moments, but when he didn't say a word he sighed.

"He's actually the one who needed to come speak to you. You may remember him….Naruto Uzumaki—"

"OH MY GOD!" Tobi yelled, jumping up in his seat. The guard and the nurse both stepped forwards, looking harassed but Tobi waved them down. "IT'S YOU! I thought I recognized you!"

Naruto looked up, eyes wide. "You remember me?"

"YES! You've grown up and lost the rest of your baby fat, and your hair is longer too, but now I recognize you!" Tobi sat down, smiling wide. "It's been a long time Naruto! How are you?"

"I…I'm good, I guess," Naruto said, still shocked at how Tobi was reacting. Sure, he met the guy quite often since he used to live with the Uchiha's before he got arrested and then sent here, but he honestly didn't expect Tobi to remember him.

"You guess?" Tobi asked and then frowned. "In my experience, being 'good I guess' actually means you are a very miserable sod who just doesn't know what's wrong with their life."

"Oh, he knows what's wrong," Kiba said, leaning back in his chair. "Actually that's why we're here. You might be able to help him with his problem."

Tobi looked between them before chuckling nervously. "Look, I know I've got a bad record, but I'm afraid I don't know any assassins, and those rumours of me being a pimp are lies. All my prostitutes have been paid for by me during those lonely—"

"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Kiba interrupted, face-palming and shaking his head. He looked up and nudged Naruto's side. "Go on, explain the situation."

Naruto chewed on his lip before sighing. "Tobi…you heard about….Sasuke's accident right?"

Tobi sat back, nodding. "Yeah, poor brat. Getting into such a horrible crash. I still blame Fugaku for riling him up the way he did. That man just doesn't like it when things go his way."

"Wait, why do you blame Fugaku?" Naruto asked, looking up. "Actually…what was Sasuke's accident? Itachi never told me the specifics!"

Tobi hummed, tilting his head. "Well, you must know that I wasn't with them during this time. I was on my own, but Mikoto called me to explain what'd happened that night. She wanted my help to find the best doctor to treat Sasuke. But anyway, apparently after they moved to Sound, Sasuke was really depressed." Tobi leant forward, the other two doing the same so as not to miss a single word.

"Apparently he was so depressed that he was literally locked away in his room for most of the day. He only came out for meals, using the bathroom and for going to check the mail every day. Mikoto said it was because he missed Konoha, and he wanted to move back but Fugaku of course wouldn't agree. I think Sasuke even said he would move back on his own and live by himself, but Fugaku was stopping him from doing that too. Of course, this caused a lot of fights between them. Mikoto said that there was barely a day that went by when those two didn't end up screaming blue murder at each other and scaring the neighbourhood."

Naruto's eyes were wide as he listened. If Tobi was telling the truth, then surely it meant that Sasuke had missed him? He remembered Sasuke saying that he didn't really hold any ties to Konoha itself, but if Sasuke wanted to move back on his own then there must have been a reason right? And out of everything in his past….he seemed to be the only thing Sasuke valued in Konoha aside from his family.

"What were the arguments about?" Kiba asked, as if he was reading Naruto's mind.

"I'm not too sure exactly. I think Itachi said something about Sasuke leaving someone very important behind, and he wanted to go back to them or something," Tobi waved his hand dismissively. He missed the sad puppy look Naruto gained and the smug grin Kiba sent the blond for knowing that they would find answers here.

"So anyway, it seems that one night the fight got really bad. Mikoto told me that Fugaku was saying some really cruel things…like, I think he was saying that even if Sasuke went back, the person he would be going for wasn't going to want him anymore. I'm pretty sure he called the mystery person a whore or something—"

Naruto scowled and Kiba's fingers scratched across the table. Tobi trailed off, looking at them strangely.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked. Kiba grunted.

"Fine. Just ate some bad muffins for breakfast," he grit out. Tobi nodded.

"Muffins are awful aren't they? They always give me cramps and my crap looks like—"

"You were saying?" Naruto cut in, not wanting to know anymore on that topic. "The fight?"

"Ah yes. So anyway, Fugaku was basically saying if Sasuke left then he would be disowned, and would end up with nothing because the person he wanted was useless and a whore and blah blah blah, a whole lot of mean things. Sasuke got really angry, and ended up storming out of the house. He was in a serious state, with the tears and the screaming and the sobbing and the 'I wish you would die's and the driving off in a blind rage….I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this?" Tobi said and they nodded.

"So Sasuke got into a crash because he was driving in a state…."

"Yep. Ended up swerving out of the way of one car, smashing into a truck coming from the right and then being pinned between the truck and the concrete base of a bridge. It's a miracle he didn't get flipped right over the edge and into the river below. Although, he would have died if that happened," Tobi said thoughtfully. Naruto paled at the very thought.

Kiba placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and turned to face the older man. "Okay Tobi, so now we know about Sasuke's accident. The reason we're here is because…well Naruto was that special person that Sasuke wanted to go back to."

Tobi's jaw dropped and he turned to Naruto. "You? You and Sasuke were together?" he asked.

Naruto nodded. "I thought you knew since I was always over there," he admitted. Tobi laughed, a high pitched little laugh of disbelief.

"I thought you guys were just best friends! Now all those weird noises at night make sense!"

Naruto buried his face in his hand while Kiba started to laugh and Tobi continued to look awed at his newfound realizations.

"Wait, so then why are you here? You just wanted to know about Sasuke's accident? But isn't Sasuke here? He would have told you himself, right?" Tobi asked, looking confused. Naruto kept his head down and Kiba's laughter died instantly, his face turning solemn.

"Actually that's the problem. Sasuke is here; in fact we all work at the same place. But the problem is Sasuke ended up losing a lot of memory in his accident. A serious case of amnesia actually. He managed to remember a lot of stuff, about his past and his family and such….but he never—"

"He never remembered me. Not even a little bit," Naruto said softly, looking up. The sadness was clear in his eyes as he looked at Tobi. "When I saw him again after so long, I was so excited…but he didn't even remember my name. And Itachi asked me to please not try and make him remember because he didn't want him to have a bad relapse and possibly go comatose for a while."

Tobi frowned, reaching over the table and patting his shoulder. "You poor bunny. That really sucks," he said sympathetically.

While Naruto worked to get past the fact that he had been called a bunny, Kiba placed both arms on the table.

"We came to ask if you knew why Sasuke wasn't allowed to remember him. From what we've gathered, it looks like there has actually been conscious effort to make sure he doesn't remember Naruto," Kiba explained, looking at Tobi intently.

Tobi cupped his chin, thinking hard. "Hmm…well, since I've been in here for a while and the family doesn't really visit much, I would only be able to give you my best guess."

"A guess is better than being left in the dark. Besides, you know them better than us, so your guess is bound to be close if not entirely accurate," Naruto said slowly, looking at the Uchiha sincerely. Tobi nodded and closed his eyes, thinking before he crossed his arms.

"My guess would be that it was all Fugaku's doing. I have a hunch that he probably felt guilty after Sasuke's accident—"

"Fugaku can feel guilty?" Naruto asked sceptically. Tobi nodded.

"Believe it not he is actually human," he said and chuckled at the mock look of horror on Naruto's face. "I know, I felt the same way. Anyway, I would say that he was guilty, and since he's actually a coward in king's clothes, I would guess that when Sasuke woke up with no memory, Fugaku made sure that the reason for his accident would never come back. It would, in many ways, shatter whatever bond Sasuke has with him now since Sasuke hated him before his accident. I'm pretty sure that during Sasuke's recovery, Fugaku used it to get close to him and have that father-son bond he's never had with Sasuke. Also, he would use the opportunity to try and shape this 'new' Sasuke to suit what he wanted. Sasuke would gain the memories that Fugaku saw fit, to some degree. Personally I think that if Sasuke got the rest of his memories back, he'd probably so pissed he'd actually do physical damage to Fugaku given the chance. I mean, that family hasn't really been close, especially since Mikoto divorced Fugaku after the accident and Itachi stopped talking to his father for a while as well as his work got hectic. If Sasuke remembered, the family would really become estranged from each other."

"That explains why Itachi asked me not to interfere….he was trying to save what little family they had left," Naruto mumbled. He understood now, why everything had been happening. He understood the cause of Sasuke's accident, and the cause of his lack in memory return…

'_Putting all the rest aside…I at least know something very important,_' he thought and closed his eyes. '_Sasuke did love me. And he wanted to be with me just like I wanted to be with him. Everything that happened after was unfortunate and unfair, but at least I know that the real Sasuke felt the same…_'

It felt like a weight was gone. The question of why he hadn't been remembered was answered, and now he didn't have to sit and wonder and worry about why he alone was left out…about why his feelings and their relationship had been ignored and forgotten.

Naruto smiled slightly, finding peace in this knowledge; a peace he hadn't felt for a long time.

"Thanks for everything Tobi," he said, looking up at the man. "You've really helped me a great deal."

Tobi nodded, smiling. "Hey, could you do me a favour?" he asked, looking pitiful.

"What is it?"

"Well, I kind of had an episode a few weeks ago. According to the doctors, I stabbed a nurse with a pen. According to me, I was drawing intensely and he got in the way," Tobi grinned and the two men shivered slightly at the madness held within it. "But anyway, I've been trying to get back onto the good behaviour benefits, and I've only recently been allowed to get snacks and stuff, but this place doesn't have my favourite chips. Think you could buy me a bunch and send them, as thanks for helping you out?"

Naruto chuckled, nodding as he stood up with Kiba. "Sure thing Tobi. I'll do that on my way home."

"Sweet."

* * *

><p>Sasuke stared into his glass of whiskey, as if the golden liquid in the cup held the answers to his questions. Once again he had come home, thinking hard about why he felt the way he did when it came to Naruto. He had seen that he and Kiba were back on speaking terms, and he was glad since Naruto had certainly seemed more cheerful when they left work that day. But now Sasuke was stuck, thinking back on what he had said in the supply closet. It was true, he cared for Naruto. He cared enough that seeing him sad had made him upset, watching him break down like he had in the supply closet had made his chest ache painfully and all he wanted to do was make Naruto smile again.<p>

Tilting his glass and watching the liquid slosh around, he continued to ponder over these things. These feelings were something that Sasuke couldn't honestly say he had felt before. But something about that didn't seem right either.

'_These feelings are familiar somehow…but I'm certain I've never felt like this towards anyone else before….no one in my school in Sound, and I can't remember anyone from my old schools. Where could I have had these feelings before, and why are they surfacing with Naruto?_' he wondered, pressing the glass to his head to try and dull the ache. He was getting headaches every day now.

Sighing, he threw back the rest of his whiskey and leant back in his chair. He didn't know what to make of things, and he was drained from trying to think of the reasons. Perhaps…perhaps he could talk to Naruto and find out if what he was feeling was mirrored.

He chuckled to himself. '_That's probably the whiskey talking,_' he thought as his eyes slid shut. The last thing he saw before falling into a deep sleep was a faceless boy with bright blond hair laughing happily.

* * *

><p><strong>Yep... : I really don't know what to say. (That's how inspiration-less I am.)**

**I'll try my best on the next chapter, but I also have exams looming so I need to crack down on le books... *bitter smile* **

**Anyway, please leave a review! And remember, if you come up with any pranks you want to see pulled, let me know and I'll see if I can put it in! :D  
><strong>


	9. Inspection and Letting Go of the Past

**Here we go with the next chapter! ^_^ I literally have no more pre-written chapters, so I can't make a promise on the next onem but I hope you enjoy this one!**

**AN: I got a review for chapter 7 that made me rethink where I was going with the plot for this a little. It wasn't a signed in review, but I'd like you to know that I'm very, very grateful for leaving that review! It made me rethink where I was going to, hopefully, make the story a little better! So thanks G!**

* * *

><p>Naruto grinned as he carefully poured some salted peanuts into Kiba's coffee mug. Kiba would be back from the bathroom any minute now, and when he took a gulp of his coffee, as he usually did, he was going to be in for a surprise.<p>

"Oh God, I have to film this one," Temari said, standing by the copier as she watched Naruto at work. She pulled her phone out, pretending to be texting someone as Kiba came out of the bathroom. Naruto, already finished his work, was now searching around in his drawer, allegedly looking for something.

"Kiba, did you steal my pens?" he asked grumpily as the man sat down. Kiba grinned.

"Nope. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!" he said, grabbing his mug. Naruto forced himself not to smile as Kiba threw his head back, taking a large gulp of coffee.

Temari almost dropped her phone from laughing too hard when Kiba suddenly sputtered violently, coughing and spitting out coffee and soaked and soggy peanuts onto the floor and his desk.

"Mother of shit, what the hell?" Kiba gagged, thumping his fist against his chest. Naruto was clutching onto his desk, laughing hysterically. Kiba glared at him, grabbing the half empty mug and standing. With an evil and smug grin, he stepped forward and emptied the rest of the cups contents right on Naruto's head.

"AAAGH!"

Laughter rang out the office as everyone pointed at the two, watching Naruto freak out over his wet hair and shirt. Clumps of soggy peanuts were stuck to his head and some on his shoulders, and his white shirt was quickly turning a murky brown around the top from the coffee.

"Ahaha! You look like you've just been shit on!" Kiba roared, slapping his hands on his knees as he doubled over from laughing. Naruto sputtered, shaking his head and sending droplets flying. Some splattered onto Kiba's shirt, but the brunet just continued to laugh.

"H-Here, Naruto," Hinata said, handing him a little hand towel she had grabbed from a cleaning cart. Her lips were trembling with the effort not to smile, but the sparkle in her eyes alerted everyone to her humour.

"Thanks Hinata," Naruto started to wipe himself down, sending glares in Kiba's direction all the while. "I'm going to get you for that!"

"Bring it!"

"EVERYONE GET TO WORK!"

Naruto dropped the hand towel in surprise as Sasuke literally came sprinting from the elevators.

"THE HIGHER UPS ARE COMING DOWN FOR THE MONTHLY INSPECTION! LOOK BUSY!" the raven roared, skidding to a halt and throwing his arms in the air. "I don't care if you fake it or do it, just cut off the pranks until they're done! Move people, MOVE!" he started waving his arms, and the gathered crowd scattered like marbles on the floor.

Temari almost fell as she rushed to her office and Ino just about strangled Shikamaru when she forcibly straightened his shirt and tie before making him sit straight. Sakura looked like a beheaded chicken as she ran from one printer to another, grabbing papers to fill her arms. Chouji dragged a pile of chip packets off his desk and stuffed them into his drawer.

"Oh shit!" Kiba clapped a hand over his mouth, turning to look at Naruto. The blond was a mess, gaping in horror as he realized he would never be able to clean up in time. Sasuke spotted him and let out an undignified squawk.

"What the hell Naruto?"

"It was Kiba!"

"What the hell Kiba?"

"Naruto started it!"

"WHAT THE FUCK YOU GUYS?" Sasuke looked ready to explode. He started turning on the spot, hands doing strange spastic motions as he tried to think of what to do.

The sound of the elevator doors dinging seemed to echo throughout the entire floor, and an ominous silence fell.

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit!" Sasuke roughly grabbed Naruto's elbow and yanked him to the side. "In my office! Hide! GO!"

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. He bolted, doing a spectacular and heroic dive through Sasuke's office door before Sakura, who was rushing past, obligingly slammed it closed behind him.

Sasuke whirled around on Kiba, grabbing his shoulders and shoving him into his chair. He spun him around to face the screen and shoved his head down.

"Look busy, and do not look up or else they'll see the coffee spots! Understood?"

"Yes boss!"

"They're inside!" a hissed whisper quickly reached them, and Sasuke's spine snapped straight. He turned, plastering on an expressionless mask as he walked towards the elevators to greet their superiors.

Hiding in the office, Naruto listened with one ear pressed against the door. He could hear Sasuke greeting them faintly, but otherwise there was nothing more than a faint rustle of paperwork and the ticking of computer keys. This often happened when it came to the monthly inspection. Usually around this time, Itachi would be taking care of some important business on another floor, and so the ninth floor would get a little bit noisy. But when Itachi returned and informed them that a floor inspection was going to happen in a few minutes, they all rushed to look as busy as possible, not only as to avoid getting into trouble, but also to avoid making the ninth floor appear even more unnecessary than some of the higher ups thought it was.

"So things are still running smoothly, yes?"

"Yes sir, there has been no decline in productivity since Itachi's departure, and it shall stay that way."

Naruto cringed, knowing that they were getting closer. He felt a little hesitant, just sitting by the door, so he quickly looked around.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Sasuke was starting to panic. They had sent only one person for this inspection, which he was grateful for, but they sent the worst person ever.<p>

Danzou Shimura, a decrepit old man who seemed to have an intense dislike not only for him, but for the entire ninth floor.

"Hmm, I see this floor is as boring and quiet as ever," Danzou commented, walking past some offices where the employees had their heads down as they typed away. Sasuke caught sight of one monitor, and he hoped that Danzou wouldn't notice that the man was typing 'God have mercy on our floor' over and over in an attempt to appear busy.

"Yes, well, we work best in silence," Sasuke said, keeping in step with the man and trying not to look around guiltily.

"Yes, I'd imagine. How about we step into your office for a little chat?" Danzou said, coming to a stop right outside Itachi's office. Sasuke was like a statue, his face the same as it was before, but inside he was flailing madly.

"…..A chat?" he repeated, wincing when his voice broke slightly. "In my office?"

Danzou nodded, raising a brow. "Yes. We wouldn't want to disturb the _quiet_ that your employees relish, now would we?" he asked mockingly.

Sasuke twitched, his brows itching to draw down in an angry frown, but he kept his mask. Besides, right now he had to worry about Danzou going into his office.

"Well…I suppose, yes….w-would you like some coffee first?" he attempted, motioning with his hands towards the kitchen area. All around them, a few brave employees were biting their nails anxiously, watching the two of them secretly and praying that Naruto would be able to hide or come up with a brilliant excuse should worst come to worst. Sakura was slowly feeding blank pages to the paper shredder, her eyes trained on the boss and Danzou. Ino was chewing her lip to pieces, and it was only when Shikamaru gave a tight tug on her long hair that she stopped and began to twiddle her thumbs instead. Shikamaru was also watching nervously, his features tight as he waited for the next move to be made.

"No thank you. I don't like coffee all that much. Too strong. Now then," Danzou reached out, grabbing the door handle and pushing the door open. Since he was facing the door, he missed the way Sasuke physically panicked, his mask falling into a look of doomed dread and his shoulders slumping badly.

There was a collective intake of breath as everyone looked through the open door to see….

Nothing.

Naruto was out of sight.

A sigh echoed around the floor and Sasuke quickly pulled himself back into his emotionless pose, raising an eyebrow at Danzou questioningly when the other man looked at him.

"Shall we?" Danzou asked, smirking slightly as he motioned the office. Sasuke nodded curtly and stepped inside after the man. As he closed the door slowly, he sent a worried look out to the rest of the workers, and mouthed a threatening 'don't make a sound'. His eyes stopped on Kiba, and he pointed two fingers to his eyes before turning them to Kiba, a scowl on his face. Kiba just raised his hands in a peaceful gesture, though his face was tight with worry.

Sasuke closed the door with a final snap and turned, scanning the office. He couldn't find a single trace of Naruto, and he wondered where the man had gone. A glance showed that the door to the little bathroom was open, revealing the empty stall.

"Well, Sasuke, how have you found being in charge of the ninth floor to be?" Danzou asked, moving to sit in the chair located in front of Sasuke's desk. Sasuke slowly moved to his own chair, easing himself down and still glancing around.

"It's been fine. A little bit more work than I expected, but nothing I couldn't handle," he said, sliding his legs forward. He almost had a heart attack when his foot bumped against something soft, and he casually leant back, glancing down. Something inside him died when he saw Naruto sending him nervous glances from under his desk, and his eyes snapped up immediately.

Danzou was calmly observing a chart on the wall, and so Sasuke turned back to Naruto.

"What the hell?" he mouthed, his eye twitching. Naruto gave an almost invisible shrug.

"I don't know, it was the best I could do at the time!" he mouthed back, and Sasuke glared at him for his bad choice.

"Sasuke?"

Naruto almost flinched at how violently Sasuke's head snapped up, and he rubbed his own neck just imagining the crick he would've gotten had he been in Sasuke's place.

"Yes sir?" Sasuke asked, hoping that Danzou would just assume he was deep in thought and wasn't glaring at something under his table.

"…Do you often send dark looks to your crotch?" Danzou asked, his amusement clear in his tone.

Naruto's head fell between his knees while his shoulders shook violently. He felt Sasuke's foot nudge him, a silent warning not to laugh any more than that. Sasuke forced a smile on his face even while his cheeks heated.

"No sir, I was merely inspecting a speck on the side of my desk," he said tightly. Danzou nodded, obviously disbelieving, but he didn't say anything more.

"Of course. Now then, Sasuke, I actually have a message to pass on to you," Danzou said, flexing his fingers before placing them over his stomach.

"A message, sir?" Sasuke asked, resting his elbows on his desk and trying to ignore the fact that his knees were knocking against Naruto's shoulders.

"Yes, from your father."

Was it just him, or did Naruto seem to go very, _very_ still?

"Ah….yes? What does he want?" Sasuke asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"He says he wants to have lunch sometime soon, so you should probably give him a call. Also, he wants a few reports done—"

Sasuke tuned out Danzou's voice, instead staring blankly as the man then went on to drone about reports and charts and statistics and various things that were making his brain melt slowly.

He felt Naruto shift under the table and glanced down. It was probably very cramped down there. As casually as he could, he spread his legs a little, nudging Naruto to let him know he could move forward a bit for more space. Naruto edged over a bit, breathing a silent sigh of relief when his legs were no longer threatening to fold over twice in front of him. He turned his head, his eyes widening when he realized that he was extremely close to Sasuke's crotch. His head snapped forward again, a blush spreading over his face as the awkward situation and position engulfed him.

Danzou and Sasuke continued to talk about mundane office things, and Naruto was starting to fidget. Underneath the desk was cramped, his shirt still had coffee and was clinging to his skin, not to mention that he was really starting to need the bathroom. He rocked slightly, wrapping his arms around his knees to try and stem the urge to pee.

When he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold it for very long, he nudged Sasuke's knee tentatively. Sasuke glanced down, seeing that Naruto obviously wanted to tell him something. His hand swept across his desk, knocking off a stapler and so he used the excuse of bending down to pick it up to let Naruto quickly whisper into his ear.

"I really, really need the bathroom!"

And like that Sasuke was sitting straight, trying to come up with an excuse to get Danzou out of his office so that Naruto could relieve himself.

"Ah, Danzou, not to sound rude but time is passing; didn't you have more floors to inspect?" Sasuke asked, feigning concern. Danzou blinked slowly before smirking and nodding slightly.

"Actually yes I do. Thank you for reminding me, but this floor does tend to make one sluggish and rather useless," he drawled, standing up. Sasuke kept his expression blank even though his fist curled. "How about you escort me to the elevator, Sasuke?"

"Yes sir," Sasuke grit out with a false smile. He stood up, carefully stepping back and around the desk before following Danzou out of the office. As soon as the door closed behind him, Naruto crawled out from under the table and raced to the small bathroom in Sasuke's office.

* * *

><p>There was a collective sigh of relief the moment Danzou left the floor, and Kiba was so relieved that Naruto got out alive, the two of them were seen dancing up and down the floor to Moves Like Jagger that Ino was kind enough to play for them. Sasuke returned from making sure Danzou stayed on a different floor in time to see Naruto dancing to Christina Aguilera's part, running his hands over his stained-but-dry shirt and throwing his head back. Kiba was hip thrusting next to him, pulling the most ridiculous 'turned-on' face anyone had ever seen. It only took a few seconds before it cracked and both he and Naruto were rolling on the floor, laughing like crazy people while those around them cackled and catcalled.<p>

"Are you two quite finished?" Sasuke asked, standing over them with his hands on his hips like a parent scolding their child. The two men on the floor stopped their rolling around, looked at each other before holding up their fingers and bursting into more laughter. Sasuke rolled his eyes, lightly kicking each of them before he walked past.

"When they're finished acting like three year olds, tell them to come see me," he instructed Kakashi. The older man saluted him, his good eye trained on a small orange novel in his hands. Sasuke smirked, smacking it from the bottom and laughing when Kakashi looked like he was having a heart attack as he almost dropped it.

"You're evil—"

"—And I know it!" Sasuke finished, waving before stepping inside his office. He leant against the door, taking a deep breath. He had a lot on his mind, but he needed to think about something in particular, especially since he was going to see his father soon. He placed a hand over his chest, feeling his heart thump in his chest.

"Hn...How bad could it go?" he mumbled, wiping a hand over his heated cheek as he thought about the best way to word his thoughts when the time came. A sudden knock on his door made him jump, running forwards and nearly rolling over the surface of his desk to get to his chair. Once he was seated and calm, he cleared his throat and called a loud 'come in'.

Kiba entered with Naruto right behind him. They were both still smiling, obviously still enjoying the moment. But they sobered up as they stood in front of Sasuke, aware that he was most likely going to scold them for their earlier tricks that almost, almost, caused the entire ninth floor some serious trouble.

"You both realize we were about a hairs breadth away from getting into serious shit?" Sasuke asked, looking between them. They nodded in unison, and he sighed. "Listen guys...As much fun as I think this whole prank war is, maybe it's time to call it quits—"

"No!" Naruto interrupted, looking horrified. "Come on, Sasuke, please? I know it was pretty close but we're not going to have another inspection until next month, and Itachi will be back by then! Let us keep this war going at least until he gets back? Please?" he begged, moving to the front of the desk and leaning against it, giving Sasuke his best puppy look. Sasuke met it with a blank stare of his own, though there was a slight twitch to his jaw.

Kiba stifled a laugh as the two of them continued to stare each other down, Naruto using his 'cute' face and Sasuke trying to resist.

'_Won't be long now,_' he thought, checking his watch and smirking.

Sasuke tried, he really did, to fight against the power that seemed to be Naruto's Puppy face, but eventually...he lost. He wasn't sure whether it was because he actually found the face cute, or if he was so uncomfortable looking at Naruto, a grown man, pulling such an expression that he just wanted him to stop as soon as possible.

Somehow, he guessed it was a mix of both.

"Okay fine," he relented and Naruto gave Kiba a grin over his shoulder. Kiba grinned back, but dropped his smile when Sasuke reached up and grabbed Naruto's tie, yanking him forward.

"BUT!" he growled, making sure Naruto was sure of the threat he was about to issue. "No more pranks that could leave physical evidence. Which means no more coffee spitting, or anything that could leave a stain. If you want to pull a prank, make sure it's something that would only take a few seconds to hide the results of if need be. Understood?"

Naruto nodded and even saluted him, his face serious. "Yes boss!"

Sasuke nodded, letting go of the blond's tie and fiddling with his own. "Kiba you can go. Naruto...I have to talk to you a little more," he said, looking away.

Naruto and Kiba blinked, glancing at each other. Kiba shrugged slightly, indicating he had no idea what Sasuke wanted. Naruto's lips thinned a bit, but he nodded and stood back. Kiba walked to the door, glancing back one last time. He took note of Sasuke's posture, his expression and the look on his face.

He stared for a moment longer before his eyes widened. '_Could he...?_' he thought, and smirked.

"See you later Naruto!" he called, and left, closing the door tightly behind him. As soon as he was out of the room, he pressed his ear against the door, listening as hard as he could. '_Please, please, please be right!_' he prayed.

Inside the room, Naruto slid his hands into his pockets, shifting his feet as he stood before Sasuke's desk. Sasuke had his hands linked in front of him, elbows on the table and a look of deep concentration on his face. A silence fell over the small office as both men simply waited, Naruto occasionally shifting his stance. Sasuke didn't even blink.

Eventually, Naruto got tired of waiting. It seemed Sasuke had gone off into his own little world.

"Er, Sasuke? What did you need to speak about?" he asked, tentatively waving his hand in front of the raven's face. Sasuke jerked back, coming back to reality after his mind had wandered. He cleared his throat, pushing down his embarrassment and fixing Naruto with an intense look.

"Naruto I...I wanted to ask you if...How should I put it?" he trailed off, looking to the side. His hands squeezed each other, and Naruto's eyebrows rose at the light flush that came across his cheeks.

"You wanted to ask me something?" he said, trying to help Sasuke through his obvious hesitance. "Go ahead, I'm listening," he encouraged.

Sasuke swallowed heavily, finding it hard to look directly at Naruto. What if he made a fool of himself? What if he was the only one going through this, and Naruto ended up laughing at him, or worse, avoiding him?

"I wanted to ask...I wanted...er...t-to ask you if..." he hated that he was stuttering, but this was a nerve-wracking situation. He never imagined he'd be in this position, but here he was and he didn't seem to be doing too well.

Naruto was starting to get a little nervous himself. What was Sasuke trying to ask him?

"Yeeees?" he drawled, fidgeting. Outside, Kiba had crossed all his fingers and was trying to cross his toes without falling over.

"I wanted...I wanted..." Sasuke closed his eyes, slamming his hands on the desktop and shooting up in his chair as he just barely yelled. "!"

Naruto had reeled back at the outburst, his ears ringing slightly from the noise. He blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of the muddled yell his boss had just let loose.

"Uhm...I-I didn't quite catch that?" he said, smiling nervously. Sasuke's face had gone red from mortification. He was trying very hard not to curl up under his desk and wish for the embarrassment to go away. But he had to see this through!

"I...I said that..." he took a deep breath that felt far too painful to him than it should have, "I wanted to a-ask if you'd...g-go out t-to dinner...with me..." His voice died out at the end as he stared resolutely at the desktop in front of him. He was too scared to look at Naruto's face right now.

Naruto was staring at Sasuke with the widest eyes he'd ever had. His face was the epitome of shock as he replayed Sasuke's words in his head over and over. Sasuke was asking him to dinner. Sasuke was asking him if he would go out to dinner with him...In other words, Sasuke was asking him on a date.

Sasuke asked him on a date.

Sasuke. Him. Date.

Sasuke. Date.

...

"Aflapbap..." a jumble of incoherent words spilled from his mouth as he attempted to say something, and he closed his mouth as Sasuke looked up, his face red but his eyebrow still raised in confusion.

"...Sorry?" The Uchiha asked, his voice a little shaky. Naruto's face was burning red as he really realized what was happening. Sasuke was asking him out. This Sasuke, who didn't remember their days together in high school, who didn't even know that they had known each other before working here...was asking him out. This Sasuke who didn't know Naruto...was asking him on a date.

"I...I..." he tried to get out his response, but he was a little overwhelmed. Did this mean that Sasuke actually liked him as more than a friend...even though he didn't remember him? Did this mean that...it was like they were starting over?

Sasuke watched as Naruto continued to stammer, looking somewhere between amazed and terrified. His stomach fell as he thought that, perhaps Naruto was in shock and was trying to tell him no. He didn't look to happy after all...just...surprised.

"I...You...I..."

Sasuke sighed, trying to push away the feeling of disappointment. Surely this rejection shouldn't have felt this bad? Right? So why did it feel like the world just lost most of its colour?

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything," he said, straightening up. "I understand. You're obviously not interested...Sorry for surprising you."

He walked around his desk, stepping past a frozen blond and pulling open his door...

Only to briefly see Kiba's irritated face before his door was slammed shut, almost breaking his nose.

"WAH!"

"NARUTO, STOP GIBBERING LIKE AN IDIOT AND GIVE HIM YOUR ANSWER!" Kiba roared from behind the door, banging his fist on it and scaring not only Naruto out of his stupor, but making half the workers outside jump badly in their chairs.

"A-Ah! Sasuke wait!" Naruto said, though it was a pointless statement. It was quite obvious that Sasuke wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, courtesy of Kiba and his epic door-slamming techniques.

"Sasuke, I was just a little...surprised," Naruto began, rubbing the back of his head. Sasuke was still facing the door, but his ears were perked, listening to Naruto carefully. "But, it's not because I'm not interested or anything! It's...it's actually the opposite."

Sasuke turned, eyes wide as he stared at Naruto's red face and the way he shuffled his feet.

"...What're you saying?" he asked, wondering if things were really turning out as well as this.

"I'm saying that," Naruto rubbed his nose, avoiding Sasuke's eyes. He felt like he was back in high school, cornered by Sasuke in the locker room right after hearing the raven's first confession.

"...That I'd love to go out to dinner with you," he finished softly.

Sasuke blinked several times, his mouth silently repeating the words Naruto had just spoken. Then he blushed, straightened, cleared his throat and nodded.

"Good!..Uh...Then I'll...pick you up? Or, no do you want to meet up? Ah, but it's date so, shouldn't I pick up...but you're not a girl...and..." he stopped when he heard a laugh, and looked up to see Naruto with a hand over his mouth, laughing. For a moment he was horrified to think that Naruto had been toying with him, but before he could let any accusations fly, Naruto spoke.

"It's okay Sasuke, relax. You can pick me up at eight, okay?" he said, smiling happily. He couldn't believe this was really happening. He was going on a date with Sasuke!

Somehow, the knowledge that Sasuke hadn't remembered him, and was asking him out with no 'prior' motive from their past was...excellent. It made him feel that, no matter when or where, or how they met...perhaps he and Sasuke would always come to this point? He would always cherish the memories he had with Sasuke in the past but...

'_I think I'm ready to let go of that Sasuke...and start over with him now,_' he thought, smiling again.

Outside the office door, Kiba was grinning madly. '_Mission accomplished! BOOYEAH!_' he did a victory fist pump, walking away from the door and linking his hands behind his head. He sincerely hoped that their date would go well. After everything he'd been through, Naruto deserved happiness, and if he found that with Sasuke then Kiba supported an 'all systems go' ideal for them. He sat down, spinning in his chair before leaning back and sighing happily.

Now...what pranks could he pull on the two of them tomorrow?

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><p><strong>:D Hope you enjoyed~ Reviews would be awesome!<br>**


	10. Unexpected and Unpleasant Surprises

**I know, I'm awful for making you all wait for so long with this! Please forgive me, but I've really been struggling with it. This chapter is shorter than the others because...I just couldn't find the motivation for it, but you've waited for so long, so I figure I must post it...Please remember that this project isn't as serious to me as others were, so I may take longer to update this one than I usually do. On top of that, there's a lot of things happening, ranging from birthdays to exams looming around the corner and shitloads of revision to get through...so please have patience with this poor, unfortunate soul. *puppy eyes***

**Disclaimer: Don't own. (But I want to buy Naruto: Blood Prison on DVD so baaad)  
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**Warnings: Minor language I think. Tension...stuff...fluffy love. Yeah...  
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><p>Naruto woke up with a smile on his face. Last night, his date with Sasuke had been...awesome. They only had dinner and then went bowling for a bit, but it had been loads of fun. They had spent so much time just talking about anything and everything, and he was amazed that they could hold such deep conversations and such light-hearted banter with the ease that they did...<p>

And not once did the past get brought up, which made it infinitely easier for them both, as Sasuke wouldn't get a headache, and Naruto didn't have to lie to him about knowing him or not.

He stretched, still grinning as he remembered kicking Sasuke's ass at bowling the other night, before hopping out of bed and heading to the shower.

'_Okay, to be fair to the bastard, if that girl hadn't thrown her ball into our lane and knocked Sasuke's off course, he probably would've won..._' he thought, chuckling to himself as he washed his hair.

He got ready reasonably quickly, and soon he was on his way to work. Parking his car in the garage, he climbed out and locked it just as he heard another door slam. Turning, his grin grew as he spotted Kiba waltzing towards him.

"Good morning, my good friend," he greeted. Kiba halted in his steps, giving him an incredulous look.

"...Did you get laid or something?" the brunet asked before wrinkling his nose. "Actually don't answer that. I don't wanna know."

Naruto laughed, shaking his head. "No, I didn't. I'm just in a good mood!" he said, walking beside his friend as they headed to the elevators together. The doors slid open and they climbed in with a few other, sleepy looking workers from various floors.

"So, how'd it go last night?" Kiba asked in a teasing tone, clasping his hands behind his back and tilting his body towards Naruto with a smile on his face. "Did you guys have a romantic evening?"

"Kiba," Naruto warned, aware that the others in the elevator had perked up at the gossip. Nosy bastards. "Not here."

"Oooh~!" Kiba sang, looking quite gleeful. "Got some juicy details to tell eh? Alright, I'll wait."

"You're an ass," Naruto scoffed, rolling his eyes. They stopped at the first floor, letting off some people and letting on some others. Naruto was busy having a thumb war with Kiba in the back of the elevator, and so he didn't see who had gotten on until...

"Uzumaki."

As if someone had just shoved a javelin through his chest and covered him in cement, Naruto went so rigid that Kiba actually had to pry his thumb away before it could get snapped in half. Massaging his sore hand, he glanced behind his blond friend to the man who had just entered the elevator...

Fugaku Uchiha, CEO of Konoha Mega-Corporation.

If Kiba had a tail, it would've shot straight between his legs as he felt the sudden drop in room temperature. He backed away as best he could into the farthest corner he could, and silently cursed the other employees in the elevator who made a speedy escape out of the little space when Fugaku stepped further in.

"...Mr Uchiha," Naruto eventually said, his voice flat and empty of all emotion. He gave a short, respectful bow but his eyes remained firmly glued to the floor.

Fugaku stared down his nose at the blond for a moment before grunting and turning around, pressing the button he wanted and crossing his arms as the doors slid closed.

In his cowardly corner, Kiba's head moved from Naruto to Fugaku as if he was watching a tennis match in slow motion. He could almost feel the stinging words that were being carefully held back just below the surface of both the men in the elevator.

"...I'm surprised you're still in this company," Fugaku suddenly drawled, his head tilting over his shoulder to fix Naruto with a stare. "I'd thought you would've gotten fired long ago, seeing as you're quite incompetent."

Naruto's knuckles went white as he clenched his fist, and Kiba started to pray that the elevator would go at top speed and arrive on the ninth floor quickly. Naruto was gritting his teeth, doing his level best not to say something. There was a myriad of things he would have liked to say to the man before him, but he had to remember that this was not just the asshole who snuffed out a part of Sasuke's past, as well as caused his accident...he was, unfortunately, his boss and could fire his ass quicker than lighting a match with gasoline and a burst of lightening.

The sound of the elevator doors dinging and sliding open was like a holy choir, and Kiba silently sang 'Hallelujah' as the metal barriers slid apart at last, allowing him and Naruto their exit. He grabbed the blond's elbow, gave a polite nod of the head to Fugaku and dragged his rigid friend out of the confines of the elevator.

"Don't get too comfortable in your office Uzumaki. You may not have it for very long."

Naruto stopped dead, turning his head in time to see Fugaku's condescending smirk just before the elevator doors slid shut. Kiba stood right behind him, also staring at the doors with a look of shock. Did Fugaku mean what he thought he meant?

"...Son of a _bitch_!" Naruto spat violently. His good mood had been crushed completely, and he turned, storming his way to his seat. Kiba swallowed, glaring at the elevator as if it was responsible for ruining his friend's mood. He followed after the irate blond, sliding into his seat and resting his palms on the separation between their offices.

"Don't worry Naruto! He won't be able to fire you without a good reason, and you haven't given him one!"

"Kiba, the mere fact that I breathe and that my heart beats is enough of a reason for him to make my life miserable," Naruto scowled, checking his emails so violently that Kiba felt sorry for the computer mouse. The brunet scratched his head, wondering what to say to make Naruto cheer up. He turned, looking around and spotted Sasuke walking towards them. The Uchiha looked quite content and calm, and Kiba guessed he was sharing the mood that Naruto had had before his encounter with Fugaku.

"HI BOSS!" Kiba yelled enthusiastically, waving frantically. Sasuke jumped a little at the outburst, his calm expression switching to one of uncertainty as he took tentative steps forward.

"Er...Good morning, Kiba," he said slowly. Kiba just grinned at him, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "...What're you up to?"

"Nothing much; just trying to cheer Naruto up! He had a bad encounter this morning, so he needs some TLC!" Kiba said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder towards Naruto. A hand emerged from the blond's little office, grabbing Kiba's red tie and yanking it harshly. Kiba choked, the tie cutting off his air passage while Naruto rose up like a demon from a well, glaring darkly at the man.

"Who needs TLC?" the blond growled, his eyebrow twitching. Kiba pulled an apologetic face, his lips turning blue from lack of air. Naruto huffed and let go of his tie, watching with slight amusement as Kiba wrenched the accessory away, gasping dramatically.

Sasuke eyed the two of them unsurely. It was obvious that Naruto was in a foul mood, but it didn't seem to be Kiba's fault...because if it had been, there'd be a lot more shouting and Naruto would _not_ have let go of the tie.

Walking up to the blond who was sitting back in his seat and typing 'Die' repeatedly before erasing it all and starting over, he leant against the desk and gave him a concerned look.

"...Hey Naruto, what's wrong? Anything I can do?" he asked gently. He really wanted to cheer Naruto up. After their date, he was reassured that whatever he was feeling towards Naruto, it was shared between him and the blond equally.

Naruto stopped his rapid typing and deleted the text. He stared at the blank screen for a moment, wondering what to say to Sasuke. It's not like he could very well turn around and say 'let me beat the shit out of your father and stop me from getting fired' now could he?

"No...It's nothing. I'm just a little stressed out."

"Stressed? About what?" Sasuke asked, leaning further in. "And don't try to tell me it's about work because...we're on the ninth floor. _No one_ stresses about _work_ here," he deadpanned, cutting Naruto off before he could start.

In his little cubicle, Kiba nodded and mumbled 'Amen to that'.

Naruto sighed, resting his head on his palm and looking off to the side. "I just...had a run in with someone who doesn't exactly make me feel like a very worthwhile person," he mumbled. It was the truth, just leaving out some finer details.

Sasuke looked offended. "Well whoever they are, they're an idiot for thinking that way. You're the most worthwhile person I know! Aside from me," he said, smirking. Naruto turned his eyes to him, a smile spreading over his face at Sasuke's sweet words.

In his office, Kiba was holding back his laughter at the fact that Sasuke had, unintentionally, called his own father an idiot.

"Thanks Sasuke...that makes me feel a lot better."

Sasuke's smirk changed to a smile. "Hn. Just telling the truth."

Naruto chuckled, his mood improved greatly after Sasuke's words. The raven seemed to be able to cheer him up quite easily. He guessed it was due to the fact that Sasuke sounded sincere in his words, even though he didn't know the situation. It was a nice thing to know that Sasuke considered him worthwhile.

"Well, I guess I should get to work then," he said, scratching his head. Sasuke nodded.

"Oh and, uh," the Uchiha fiddled with his tie. "...Do you want to go for lunch later?"

Naruto grinned, nodding eagerly. "Yes please!"

Sasuke returned his smile, his eyes warm and Naruto felt his heart flutter cheerfully. God, he really loved this man, no matter where or when.

"Aw, the sweetness is giving me a toothache!" Kiba butted in, leaning over the separation and clapping them both on the back. Sasuke jerked forward from the hit, his shoes making a loud squeak against the floor that drew attention to them. Naruto laughed while Sasuke turned and tried to clip Kiba across the back of his head, but he ducked away too quickly.

Suddenly, something sounded throughout the entire floor, which went eerily quiet as every worker present stopped what they were doing to listen. The sound was unmistakable...

Moaning, groaning, grunting and wet slaps, squishes, screams of pleasure...

"What the hell?" Naruto breathed, eyes wider than dinner plates as he and the rest listened to the obvious pornographic noises. Sasuke looked dumbstruck while Kiba's head swivelled left and right, trying to find the source.

A few seconds later, they heard another sound that was completely unexpected.

"TEMARI!" Shikamaru bellowed, shooting up out of his office. His face was bright red, and a vein was popping in his forehead. The normally lazy man looked absolutely livid. "WHEN THE FUCK DID YOU CHANGE MY RINGTONE TO THIS?" he roared towards the blonde woman who was now laughing hysterically. "WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET THIS SHIT_?_!"

"Y-You'd be amazed what you can f-find on the internet," Temari gasped between her laughs as she held up her phone which was quite clearly calling Shikamaru's, and the sounds continued.

And then the floor was bursting into laughter as everyone realized what had happened. Kiba was hanging over the side of his office wall, laughing so hard there were tears beading at the corner of his eyes. Naruto was doubled over in his seat, shoulders shaking violently while Sasuke had his face buried in his hands, his snorts and low chuckles breaking through his fingers. Ino was pointing and laughing at her old friend with something akin to malicious glee in her eyes, glad that someone had gotten the lazy man. By then Shikamaru had ended the call, and was frantically changing his ring tone and deleting the sound clip that Temari had sneakily put in his phone. That was the last time he would ever believe her when she said she left her phone at home and needed to call her brother.

"Troublesome woman," he grumbled, still red in the face but the popping vein had gone. Shikamaru rarely got that worked up, but if anyone could get under his skin, it was Temari.

"Ahaha," Temari laughed, waltzing over to him and slinging an arm over his shoulder. "Don't feel too ashamed. At least you didn't get a hard-on, unlike some others in this building," her eyes roved over to Kakashi, who shuffled back into his office quickly, his hands over his crotch. There was more laughter as his door shut, and by this point Kiba was in danger of passing out from a lack of oxygen

Sasuke shook his head, still grinning as he pushed himself away from Naruto's desk. But not before running his hand over the blond's shoulder in a final gesture of affection, which made Naruto smile even as he started to work.

Aside from the little encounter with the devil that morning, his life was looking pretty damn good.

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><p>Shikamaru's retaliation to Temari's Porno-Tone prank was swift and merciless. Everyone on the floor knew he was the culprit the moment the prank was set forth. After all, it was common knowledge that Shikamaru was an expert at Photoshop...and who else would think to send out a picture of a saggy old lady bent over a table with an elephant trying to hump her...and the old lady's face was definitely Temari's.<p>

"I'M GOING TO RIP OFF YOUR BALLS AND FEED THEM TO YOU WITH A CHAINSAW!" Temari shrieked viciously as she slammed her fists repeatedly onto the men's bathroom door, where Shikamaru had supposedly taken cover seconds after he spread the photo via email. He had apparently locked the door too, so she couldn't even barge in like they all knew she would have.

Sasuke's office bathroom had been designated as the temporary bathroom, since no man dared approach the men's room when Temari was still trying to pick the lock with her broken pen and hair clip. Kiba was convinced that Shikamaru had ninja-ed his way through the vents and left the building, but Naruto insisted that it would be far too much effort for the lazy man, especially after he spent a considerable amount of time editing that photo.

Sasuke allowed the men to come into his office and use his bathroom freely as long as they were quiet and clean about it. He left his door open, occasionally wincing when he heard another detailed threat from Temari, but managed to focus on his work nonetheless.

It was some time later that heads swiftly turned when they heard Temari give a triumphant and viciously evil laugh before she shoved open the newly unlocked bathroom door. Naruto and Kiba watched tentatively over the tops of their office walls, waiting for the screams of pain and the agonizing sounds of crushed testicles to start. Yet, all that came from the bathroom was another frustrated yell from Temari, who re-emerged looking quite flustered and pissed.

"Where the hell are you, Shikamaru?" she called, and everyone blinked rapidly. Shikamaru wasn't in the bathroom?

"Do you think he beamed himself up to his mother ship?" Kiba asked in a whisper and Naruto snorted, paused and thought, before shrugged.

"You never know with that guy."

While Temari started to walk up and down the aisles like a drill sergeant, looking for hide or hair of the lazy genius, everyone else speculated where he was. Someone made a comment about whether he had actually escaped to another floor, and Temari raced to the elevators.

"Don't let any other floor know about the pranks!" Sasuke yelled after her before she could escape.

"I'm not going to talk about the prank!" Temari called back, slamming her hand on the buttons. "I'm just going to snap his neck the moment I see him; there won't be any need for words!"

The doors slid shut and everyone fell silent, wondering if Shikamaru's body would ever be found.

"Is she finally gone?"

Naruto and Kiba turned their heads so fast that their necks cricked in unison. Chouji was grinning as he moved his seat backwards, and from the large and open space under his desk, Shikamaru rolled out and stretched with a yawn.

"Damn, it was hard to nap with all her screaming," he said nonchalantly as he stood up, brushing himself off as if he hadn't just spent the last two hours sleeping under his friend's desk, simultaneously hiding from his raging co-worker. "Tell me when she gets back," he added casually before sitting at his own desk and starting to work.

Sasuke gave up trying to get everyone to stop laughing after five unsuccessful attempts. It was nearing lunch time anyway, so he picked at his tie as he walked over to Naruto's desk once again.

"So, it's almost lunch time. Anyplace in particular you'd like to go?" he asked softly. Naruto looked up from his computer with a grin.

"There's a place that serves really awesome ramen a few blocks from here," he said and Sasuke chuckled.

"I think I've seen it before. It's got a strange name...Ichi-something right?"

"Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto corrected with a proud grin. "And which I think should be sub-titled as Happiest Place on Earth!"

"Well, we'll go to the 'Happiest Place on Earth' for lunch," Sasuke said with a smile.

"You guys are going to Disneyworld for lunch?" Kiba asked, butting his head in as he seemed prone to do. "Awesome, can I come?"

"No, you idiot," Naruto said, placing his hand on Kiba's face and pushing against it. "We're going to Ichiraku, and you aren't invited!"

"How mean! And this is abuse!" Kiba's muffled voice said. Sasuke smirked.

"He's right Naruto. You'd better stop doing that before someone accuses you of animal cruelty," his smirk widened as Naruto laughed and Kiba gave him an indignant look.

"And to think, after everything I did for you guys," Kiba bemoaned, sliding into his office with a whimper. "Fine! I'll just eat my awesome burgers by myself!" he said, turning his nose up into the air and huffing.

Naruto laughed at his friend as he stood up, grabbing his jacket from his chair. Sasuke walked beside him as they headed to the elevators, since it was the lunch break now. As they reached the elevators, the doors slid open to reveal a very, very agitated Temari.

"That lazy basta-AHA! I FOUND YOU!" she roared, pointing at Shikamaru who looked around with a piece of jerky hanging from his mouth.

"Troublesome," he sighed before turning and sprinting away at a surprising speed as Temari barrelled after him, murderous intent glittering in her eyes.

Sasuke let Naruto step into the elevator first, the two of them peering out from the doors as they heard something crash and a very faint yell from Sakura that sounded like "Ten bucks on Temari!"

Naruto started to snicker once the doors closed and the elevator began to move.

"I hope he gets away with every limb in its rightful place," Sasuke said, smirking slightly.

"Knowing Temari, she'll shake him up for a while but she won't hurt him too bad," Naruto said, folding his arms behind his head. Sasuke nodded, sliding his hands into his pocket. He glanced at the blond from the corner of his eyes, taking in his stance and smiling slightly. He really did like Naruto, even if it seemed strange for these feelings to be so strong when they had only been on one date.

Without really thinking about it, he leant over and placed a small kiss on Naruto's cheek. The blond blinked, turning to look at him with wide eyes while his cheeks heated.

"What was that for?" he asked, unable to really suppress his smile. Sasuke shrugged, a little pink in the face himself.

"No reason. I just," he shifted his eyes to the side. "...I just wanted to."

Naruto grinned, big and bright. "Well, that's not fair," he muttered and leant over, giving Sasuke a peck on the cheek too. "Now it's fair!"

Sasuke touched the area gingerly, knowing he probably looked like a love-struck idiot but when Naruto started to laugh he couldn't feel bothered about it. He was just too busy being happy in the moment.

They stepped out into the garage, talking about what they planned to eat and discussing various things about their work. Sasuke glanced around and, seeing no one, reached out to take Naruto's hand. The blond blushed again but squeezed his fingers with a grin.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was sitting in their expensive car, staring at the two of them in shock.

"Sasuke," Fugaku breathed, watching as his son opened the car door for the blond Uzumaki, smiling and laughing as the two conversed. His hands clenched around his own steering wheel while his lips pulled down into a deep frown. "This cannot be happening."

He watched as the two of them drove out, obviously on their way to a lunch. He sat still, staring after them before lowering his head and pulling out his phone. He stared at the picture on the screen for a moment before scowling, opening up a new message and quickly typing it out to send to his son.

_Sasuke._

_Come see me after your lunch break._

_We need to talk urgently._

_From Father._

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><p><em><em>**Oh dear. Fugaku hath entered, Fugaku hath seen...what shall Fugaku do-eth?  
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**I'll try to work on the next chapter in the little bits of free time I have, but I'm really going to be going on a semi-half-assed hiatus until exams are over because...yeah, serious shit here! XD Gotta buckle down and bite the bullet! I hope this will tide you over at least a little bit!  
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	11. Whiskey, Relapses and Realizations

**HO-LY HELL-BALLS look who's not dead! :O I am soo sorry for the ridiculously long wait for this chapter...how long has it been? Months? I don't even know... I kinda of got stuck with this chapter, rewriting it over and over and never managing to get past the opening paragraph...then inspiration just stopped...and then the dreaded EXAMS began, (and are still happening) so yeah, writing and all creativity in general has been put on hold. :/ Those who follow my dA account will have already known this...to those that don't, you're hearing it now that until exams are finished, I'm on a semi-temporary-hiatus-like-thing... :/ So please have patience with me!**

**Anyway, this chapter is probably the most serious one...I tried to add some lighthearted humor, but I'm not sure how well I succeeded. Oh well~  
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**I'm not sure how much longer this story will be going on...probably only a few more chapters. I'm going to try and wrap things up in that time, anyway. I've got some stories I'm working on, of course...but also I've been swept up into the wonderful fandom of Hetalia, and I've also gotten several ideas for fics in that fandom (started writing a few already, though as stated above, writing time is cut short). But yeah, this story will be over sometime soon...well, in regards to chapter numbers, not update times. XD  
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**Enough delay, and once more sorry for the wait...the next chapter of When the Boss is Away! :D  
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**Warnings: Minor language, light BL... Also, some misspelling on Fugaku's dialogue but for a reason...you'll see soon.  
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**Disclaimer: No, no I do not own these characters. :/ How unfortunate.  
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><p>While waiting for Sasuke to come to his office, Fugaku had, in all niceness of the term...worked himself up into a complete state.<p>

_'I can't believe this!_' he thought, pacing back and forth behind his desk. He'd gone from level-headed and calm to this hyper, jittery bundle of nerves in record time.

Though, the bottle of whiskey on his desk may have had something to do with the sudden jump from one level to another...but he wasn't focused on that right now.

Fugaku stopped pacing suddenly, standing in the middle of his office. He breathed heavily, trying to calm himself down. He had to think rationally. He had to be calm and clear-headed. He had to...he had to...

He had to have another glass of whiskey, it seemed, since he found himself holding the refilled glass to his lips again.

Fugaku drained it and slumped into his seat, wide and bloodshot eyes staring at the top of his desk with something akin to childish misery. He had tried so hard to do what he thought was right. He had tried so hard to ensure that Sasuke stayed on the right path.

The thing about Fugaku, that not many people knew, was he didn't actually have an issue with homosexuality. Sure, he was uncomfortable around the subject since it certainly wasn't something he was part of, but he didn't hate gays or fight against their rights. Let them do what they wished, is what he said.

So when Sasuke had told him and Mikoto that he was gay, well...sure, he was a little surprised and a little uncertain, but he didn't love his son any less.

No, that had not been the reason he had tried so hard to separate Sasuke and...And that Uzumaki character.

Fugaku drained another glass- '_When did I pour this one?_'- Before slumping some more, his chin resting on his chest at this point. Back then, when he first heard Sasuke was dating the blond, he had felt that common fatherly urge to make sure their child was with someone worthwhile and good. So he did a little digging into Uzumaki's background...and he wasn't pleased. Orphaned, a bit of a disruptive record, bad habits, and seemingly a delinquent...at least according to all reports he'd managed to scrounge up.

He definitely didn't want Sasuke hanging around with a bad influence! He was already in a dangerous place, being gay. Fugaku knew there were many people out there who would not hesitate to commit violent acts against homosexuals. He grew more and more anxious every time he saw some hate crime on the television. Eventually it got to the point where every time he saw a report, he automatically envisioned Sasuke's face in place of the victim, and it scared the living shit out of him. Sasuke, though he acted cool and arrogant, was very naive and optimistic. He was gullible as hell too. It was why Itachi had such fun tricking him, since Sasuke always believed him the first time round.

The last thing Fugaku wanted was for Sasuke to fall into a trap by believing in someone who would only manipulate him. And so, on a night much like this day which involved equal amounts of liquor, a notepad full of plans, and a rubber chicken which he refused to comment further on, Fugaku made a decision.

He would not allow Sasuke to fall onto the wrong path!

From then on, he discouraged Sasuke's relationship with Naruto as best as he could, but Sasuke just got angry at him. And he wouldn't listen to his reasoning either.

Okay, perhaps saying that Uzumaki was a waste of breathing space was not the best way to explain he thought he was a bad influence, but give a guy a break; he was probably drunk half the time anyway.

And then...then they had had that fight. Fugaku still shuddered remembering it. He really hadn't wanted it to go so bad, but Sasuke was refusing to see sense, even after he had managed to separate them. He feared he had been too late, and that Sasuke was already set and willing to get hurt and betrayed for some ridiculous notion of 'love'.

The fight escalated until Sasuke left, and then he had his accident. To say that Fugaku nearly had an accident of his own wouldn't be an understatement. Mikoto had even worried that two Uchiha's would be submitted to hospital that night, considering how close Fugaku had come to having a heart attack.

But when Sasuke woke up with little memory...that keen, inner business man in Fugaku's brain had practically exploded upwards wearing a bright red banner that proclaimed OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME!

Call him conniving, sneaky and mean, but Fugaku saw this horrible event as a door to a better future for Sasuke. He would work hard to keep Sasuke on a path that would not lead him into trouble. Mikoto disagreed. She disagreed with his choice quite heavily...so heavily she claimed she didn't even know who he was anymore, and she left. And Fugaku, being the strong willed man, had counted his loss and said 'Bugger you then!'

And he did _not_ send exactly one hundred and fifty-three text messages to her over the course of a single week begging her to come back. And he did _not_ get a single reply in return saying 'tell Sasuke the truth and then we'll talk' to which he sobbed like a child, declared he couldn't, and ended up being a miserable-on-the-inside man that his eldest son took pity on and stopped calling him a 'fucking bastard' and instead called him a 'foolish father'.

Nope, not at all.

The point is, Fugaku had then tried to steer Sasuke, naive little Sasuke, on a path that wouldn't result in his body lying in a ditch, covered in glitter with a massive stab wound spelling out some unspeakable anti-gay word that was also used to describe a cigarette in some parts of the world.

Sure, maybe it wasn't fair on Sasuke to keep those 'happy' memories, but Fugaku never believed he was happy. Then again, the only time he saw Sasuke once he started dating Naruto was when they were arguing...and not many people were happy while arguing. (If they were, there was something wrong, and all relatives should consider getting them help.)

Fugaku blinked blearily, noticing for the first time that he had slumped so far down in his chair that his arms were sticking up by his ears on the armrest and his neck was _killing_ him. He smacked his lips absently, wondering when he'd finished the whole bottle of whiskey. He was certain there'd still been at least half the bottle when he last looked, but now it hung from his hands and was definitely empty.

A part of him knew that getting shit-faced drunk before talking to Sasuke was a very stupid thing to do, but he'd been trying to calm down. And he certainly felt calm now. He was sleepy even. Surely when Sasuke walked through that door, they would sit down together over some whiskey (he had a supply in his desk drawer) and talk about things calmly, like they always did nowadays with their strengthened relationship. (_'A relationship that is a LIE' _the voice in his head screamed, sounding just like Mikoto did on the night she left)

Yes, indeed when Sasuke walked through that door, things would go smoothly, he would make the boy see sense, and then he'd fire Uzumaki and not have to worry every again. Yes, indeed, it would all go smoothly. Indeed it would, indeedy-deed-deed it would-

"You wanted to see me father?" Sasuke asked, stepping into the office.

"HOW _DAAARE_ YOU DO THISH TO ME!" Fugaku all but roared, jumping to his feet and waving drunkenly. "I TRIED SHO-hic-SHO HARD TO KEEP YOU SHAFE-hic-SHAFE FROM THAT LIFE!"

Sasuke stared at his father with eyes bugging out of his head. He was standing with his back against the door, just staring and unsure of what to do. He had no idea what his father was even talking about, and his slurring wasn't helping. How much had the man had to drink?

"-And I even made sure you-hic-never shaw a rainbow jusht in-hic-in case it shet you on the glittery-hic-path of shocial destruction-"

_'Holy Franken-fuck, he's gone completely off his rocker...' _Sasuke thought, listening to the nonsense his father was spewing. What was that about rainbows and glitter?

"-And I even forced you to shtudy at h-home for a few-hic-weeksh before letting you go to scho-hic-school! But did that shtop you?" Fugaku placed a hand on his hip, swaying slightly as he drawled out the next word with a heavy slur. "Nyuuuu!"

"Uh...Dad?" Sasuke started, trying to cut into the tirade and maybe figure out just what the hell was happening. "W-what are you talking about?"

"AND ISH ALL THAT ROTTEN MUZUKAKI'S FAULT!" Fugaku bawled, collapsing onto his desk and heaving once. "Shtoopid Muzu-hic-kaki..."

Sasuke's face scrunched. _'Who the hell is Muzukaki?_' he wondered. He voiced his question, and Fugaku almost broke his desk as he stood upright, pointing at Sasuke accusingly.

"DON'T PLAY SHTOOPID WITH ME!" he yelled and Sasuke was briefly thankful that his father's office was pretty soundproof, so no one else would hear his drunken yelling. "YOU'RE DATING THAT SHTOOPID BRAT RIGHT NOW! AGAIN! FOR THE SHECOND TIME YOU'RE BEING SHTOOPID AND DATING THAT SHTOOPID MUZUKAKI!"

Sasuke noted several things from that yell. One, his father liked to latch onto the word 'shtoopid' when he was drunk. Two, his father was calling his boyfriend a stupid brat. Three, his father knew he had a boyfriend. Four, his father knew it was Naruto, but was mispronouncing his last name as Muzukaki instead of Uzumaki. And finally...the _second_ time?

"What the hell do you mean the second time I'm dating him?" he asked, deciding to deal with one thing at a time, and this seemed like an interesting place to start. "We've only just started dating, how could this be the second time?" he asked, crossing his arms. He winced a little as his head suddenly started to hurt, but pegged it as a headache from his father's yelling. The man had a loud voice after all.

"NOOO!" Fugaku wailed, picking up the empty whiskey bottle and waving it around before slamming it down. "No, don't play shtoopid! You dated that bumbling blond in high school too!" Fugaku ended with a dramatic sniff, as if the mere idea was a tragic tale to remember. "And I tried sho hard to shtop you from 'membering!"

Sasuke's arms fell to his side while his lips parted and his eyes widened. '_What...?_'

Like a light bulb bursting, a flash of memory cut across his mind. He saw a school courtyard, swarming with students, but his sights were on a single blond boy walking in front of him. He was a few paces ahead, walking with a hefty black and orange bag on his back. Suddenly he turned, bright blue eyes and a wide white smile greeting him.

"_Geez Sasuke, could you walk any slower? I'll need a shave by the time we reach the school gates if you walk like that!_"

He felt his back hit the door as a hand came up to cover his eye, the throbbing pain in his head increasing as he gasped. He heard his father say his name; voice sounding a lot less slurred an a lot more alert. But he couldn't reply as another flash came to him.

"_I don't want you to go..."_ Sad blue eyes were looking down, and he saw his own arm extend, bringing that familiar face up.

"_I promise it won't be forever. I'll come back for you. I promise you...I love you."_

"Oh...God," Sasuke grunted, both hands now pressing against his eyes as the pain got worse. Flashes of various things, smiling faces, golden hair, blue eyes...it was a myriad of images, mixing to create a painting that was nothing but chaos...familiar chaos. Cherished chaos, and yet...and yet...

_"YOU WILL NOT DISOBEY ME ANYMORE! YOU WILL STAY HERE AND LIVE A NORMAL LIFE!"_

_"YOU CAN'T CONTROL ME, YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING BACK TO KONOHA! I'M GOING BACK TO NARUTO!"_

_"THAT CHILD IS WORTHLESS! HE DOESN'T CARE; HE'S PROBABLY WHORING AROUND AS WE SPEAK! DON'T THROW YOUR OWN LIFE AWAY FOR A DELINQUENT!"_

_"SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HIM, OR ME!"_

_"SASUKE! SASUKE COME BACK RIGHT NOW!"_

_"FUCK YOU!"_

Tires screeching, tears and screaming...pain.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!"

Fugaku was sober. Fugaku was so overly sober he was in danger of having a nervous breakdown. He lunged forwards to catch his son as Sasuke collapsed forward, gripping his head and grunting and groaning in pain. Tumbled murmurs that made little sense were spilling from his mouth, sweat was starting to form along his forehead and Fugaku could feel him trembling violently in his arms.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, answer me!"

"Lie...Liars...You...I...N-Naruto..." Sasuke couldn't form a complete sentence as memories from the past and memories from the present began to clash. He couldn't discern between the two anymore, and his head was in so much agony. He let out a dry sob as the pain washed over him before finally he succumbed to darkness, passing out with a final flash of a grinning face that he could finally, finally put a name too.

* * *

><p>Naruto slurped up his ramen happily, his feet propped up on the coffee table before his couch. He was watching some random shows on T.V, just wasting time. He'd had a good day, and a great lunch with Sasuke. They'd talked for ages, and Sasuke had held his hand the entire time. He felt silly for getting so happy over that fact, but he couldn't help it. They'd also kissed quite a bit, and Naruto was both surprised and amused to find that Sasuke wasn't a very skilled kisser. It was something he would remedy.<p>

He still found himself comparing things to the past, but he was trying to stop it. After all, this was a brand new start, so he wouldn't let the past interfere. What he had with Sasuke then was wonderful, but what he had with Sasuke now...what he could have...it was even better. They were older, more experienced with life and they could make things work if they truly wanted. Naruto knew that there would be challenges, but as long as Sasuke was willing even 1%, then he was willing 100% to give it his all and make it work!

Smiling to himself, he slurped another long noodle into his mouth, watching with interest as the man on the screen solved a murder with the clever use of some underhanded method, grinning widely. A sudden ringing made Naruto reach out absently, his fingers closing around his cell phone and he pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Naruto, it's Itachi."

Naruto blinked, pulling the phone away to look at it in confusion before pressing it back to his ear.

"Uh...Itachi?"

"Yes."

"...Why are you calling my cell? Is there a problem with work?"

"No. This is a personal matter."

Naruto sucked on the ramen noodle in his mouth, wondering what Itachi was going to say. A part of him was worried that he knew about him and Sasuke dating again, and that he was going to say 'break it off'. He wouldn't, but it wouldn't be cool to make enemies with Itachi too.

"What's up?" he asked, going for the oblivious option. There was a chance this had nothing to do with Sasuke at all!

"It's about Sasuke."

Well fuck.

"...Ah...Yes?" he asked, still garnering for ignorance.

"He's in the hospital."

An ant was walking along the floor, minding its own business as it headed back towards the nest located somewhere in the walls of the house. The little thing trotted along, feelers twitching, when suddenly a shadow grew over it. It looked up, barely able to twitch its feelers before the side of a ramen cup squished it with a thundering finality.

"...W-what?" Naruto gasped, eyes wide. "Why? When? Where?"

"Konoha General. He was submitted a few hours ago, but has yet to come out or wake up. As for why, it appears he's had a relapse of some kind. He collapsed in my father's office, and hasn't woken up since."

The world was melting around him again, and he placed a shaking hand over his eyes. Oh God, why had this happened? A small part of his brain was pointing a fat finger at him, echoing the words 'relapse' and then bringing up their new relationship. Had he been the cause of this? He had hoped that, by not mentioning the past at all, that they could avoid this. But now...

"Naruto...Will you go to him? Will you make sure he's okay, for my sake?" Itachi asked suddenly, sounding a little less intimidating and sounding more like a very concerned brother. "I know that you two started to date again, and I feel that you'll be the person he needs right now."

"What? How did you know?" Naruto asked, looking up. He wiped his eyes, ridding them of the forming tears as he imagined what could be happening right now. Would Sasuke ever wake up? What if he fell into a permanent coma now?

"Father saw the two of you leaving for a date. It's why he called Sasuke in to talk just before he collapsed. In fact, I think it is my father's fault that Sasuke had this relapse at all."

"Why do you think that?" Naruto asked even as he got up to collect his jacket and prepare to leave. He grabbed his car keys, heading out the door and locking it as Itachi spoke.

"Father called me soon after Sasuke was submitted. He said that he had been drinking a bit before talking to Sasuke, and that he unknowingly started to speak of the past, thinking that Sasuke had already remembered and that that was why he was with you. As it turns out, Sasuke still hadn't recalled anything...well, until now."

Naruto bit his lip, feeling anger bubble inside of him. Fugaku...why couldn't that man just accept what was and leave them alone? Did he hate him that much? He'd never done anything to the man, so why couldn't he just let him be?

"Naruto...please forgive me father," Itachi said and the blond looked at his phone again as he reversed, wondering if Itachi could somehow read his mind through the transmissions. "He's a narrow-minded old fool. He's stubborn; once he thinks he knows what's right, it takes a lot to change that opinion. He never wanted to hurt Sasuke, and I'm certain he never wanted to cause you pain either. He's always wanted what's best for us...it's just sometimes he doesn't realize what the best is."

Naruto kept silent. Truthfully he wanted to go to Fugaku and deck him in the face...maybe using a chair for good measure. That man had caused so much pain and anguish to both him and Sasuke. How could he be trying to help when it seemed all he wanted to do was harm them in some way?

He drove through the streets that were relatively calm at this hour. "I'll...try," he said softly.

Itachi sighed over the phone. "That's all I can ask. I know Sasuke will need you there. I'm sorry for all of this...But please, try to convince Sasuke to forgive our father. He is only human, and he was doing what he thought was right, even if it was unfair."

"Alright," Naruto said absently as he pulled up to the hospital, finding a parking quickly to his luck and climbing out. "Thank you for telling me, Itachi."

"Hn."

He hung up, walking quickly through the doors and heading straight to the front desk. He didn't want to speak in Fugaku's favour. He honestly thought that Sasuke would be better off without that man trying to control his every move. But he would think about all of that later; right now his only concern was checking on Sasuke.

The nurse told him the room number, and reminded him he had a limited time. He thanked her and tried not to sprint like a maniac to the elevators. Reaching the right floor and door, he hurried forwards and pushed it open, looking inside.

Sasuke was lying on a bed, wires attached to him as he slept soundly. The steady 'beep' of his heart monitor was reassuring, proving he had a strong pulse and he didn't look too bad. At least there were no bandages to indicate he'd gotten any other injuries when he collapsed.

Naruto stepped further into the room, moving to the spot besides Sasuke's bed. He tenderly reached out, taking his hand and holding it gently as he knelt down. He stared up at Sasuke's face, blue eyes searching for any sign of him knowing there was something with him.

"...Hey Sasuke," he greeted softly. He didn't try to shake him awake, or yell. He could only imagine what kind of chaos was in the raven's mind right now. He reached up with his free hand, brushing a lock of hair away from Sasuke's eyes, watching as his eyelids fluttered but didn't open. His heart throbbed in his chest and he bit his lip, trying to push back the sharp sting in his eyes.

"...You'd better wake up sometime soon, you bastard," he mumbled, pulling Sasuke's hand up, mindful of the wires on him, and resting it against his cheek. "I lost you once before...I...I don't want to lose you again."

A tear slid out, racing down his cheek like a champion to pool at the crevice where his skin met Sasuke's hand. He sighed heavily, shakily, and simply ran his fingers over Sasuke's cheek once.

"Wake up soon, Sasuke."

The door sliding open made Naruto tense, but he didn't make any moves to pull away or hide what he was doing. He held Sasuke hands firmly, pressing a light kiss to the pale knuckles and brushing some more hair out of the raven's face. He could feel the person behind him staring at him, but he wouldn't try to hide what he did.

"...Why are you here?"

The voice was hoarse, as if the owner hadn't used it properly for a long time now. It was also quite thick...tears.

Naruto didn't turn to face Fugaku as he continued stroke Sasuke's cheek affectionately.

"Itachi called me and told me he had collapsed. I rushed over immediately," he said shortly, his voice clearly showing that he didn't think this man deserved his answer at all.

Fugaku stared at the blond sitting beside his son, watching as he stroked his cheek and held his hand. It reminded him of how he used to do the same to Mikoto when she was ill, lying in bed and sleeping. He would sit by her side, holding her hand tightly and stroking her cheek to calm any nightmares she may have had. The image faded back to the hospital room, Mikoto's fragile face morphing back into Sasuke's. His youngest had always taken after their mother more than him. Now, as Sasuke lay weak in a hospital bed, it was not him offering comfort...

"...Uzumaki, do you actually care for him?" Fugaku asked bluntly, though his voice was still heavy with his tears from before. He had spent the better part of the wait thinking over everything. He had believed he was doing the right thing for so long...but if the 'right thing' caused Sasuke this much pain...then how could it be right?

Naruto looked around at the question, anger burning in his watery eyes. "Excuse me? You think I don't?" he hissed. At the hesitant look Fugaku had, something clicked in Naruto's mind. "...You never did. You thought I was just using him..." he said, Tobi's earlier words coming back.

Fugaku sighed heavily, stepping into the room fully and closing the door. "I had only read up bad reports about you. I saw you to be a delinquent. I didn't want...I don't want my son to be with someone who could make him crash and burn."

Naruto scowled at being called a delinquent. "Just because I was dealt a bad hand in life doesn't mean I wish to force the same on others. I...I love Sasuke. I always have," he turned back to the sleeping raven, a bitter smile on his face. "Even when he didn't remember me...even when he treated me as nothing more than a fellow worker...a stranger...I still cared deeply for him."

Fugaku heard the younger man choke slightly, but he didn't say anything. Naruto swallowed around the lump in his throat before continuing.

"And even now...if he remembers the past, then I'll be here. If he never remembers...I'll still be here. I'll stay by his side as long as he wants me too."

Fugaku stared at the two of them, taking in Naruto's words. He closed his eyes, a tear sliding down his cheek. Heaving a sigh, he wiped his face.

"I have...been mistaken. This entire time I thought I was doing what was best for my children," he paused as Naruto turned around, looking at him with a look of quiet tolerance, waiting patiently.

"...I've misjudged you, and the feelings you and Sasuke share. I've...caused you both pain," Fugaku had to stop and clear his throat. This was not easy. Admitting you were wrong for so many years never was or would be. "And for that...I'm s-sorry."

Naruto stared at the man before him, surprise tinting his features. He hadn't expected this, ever. Fugaku had always acted so harshly towards him, showing what seemed to be real disdain and dislike for him. To hear him apologize, not only to Sasuke(not that it did any good right now) but to him as well...it was almost a miracle.e He

Itachi's earlier request flitted into his head, and he lowered his gaze with a sigh. Now he understood why Itachi hadn't ever done something himself. He had know about this side of Fugaku, this struggling-father side that was obviously not something Fugaku wanted many people to see. It made him think of what his own father, had he lived, would've been like. What measures would he have taken to keep him out of trouble?

"...I..." he steeled himself, about to do something he never imagined he'd do, "I...accept your apology," wow, that was hard to say, "And...And I think that Sasuke would feel the same. You...you should talk to him when he wakes up, and explain...everything. He...you both need to clear the air, once and for all."

Fugaku listened to the blond, marvelling that Naruto had forgiven him so easily. He had been expecting some more fighting, maybe a punch or two. He really had misjudged the blond. Thinking back over the years, and how he had treated him...

'_Oh wow, I am an almighty ass..._' he thought, somewhat horrified at himself. He knew he was an ass, but now that he actually recalled some of the ways he'd acted...No wonder Mikoto said he'd changed from her 'sweet husband' to 'the biggest prick in the entirety of prick-vill and all surrounding prick-villages'...

"I'll definitely do that," Fugaku said slowly and Naruto nodded. A silent understanding passed between them that things were...calm. There was too much behind them to say things were okay right now, but they were at least on an equal field of neutrality. It was the first step to something that resembled an agreement.

A knock on the door alerted them to the nurse's presence. She quickly glanced in, smiling apologetically.

"Visiting hours for non-family members is over, I'm afraid," she said to Naruto. He nodded, standing up. He gave Sasuke's hand a squeeze and bent over, kissing his forehead.

"See you soon, Sasuke," he mumbled.

Fugaku stepped aside, allowing him to walk out. Just before Naruto was completely gone, Fugaku cleared his throat and made a last ditch effort to start making amends.

"I'll...keep you posted on his progress...?" he offered. "And I'll...call you when he wakes up..."

Naruto paused, swaying on the spot as he listened before giving a small nod and an even smaller, even quicker smile of thanks.

"Thank you sir."

And then he left.

* * *

><p><strong>:D I enjoy making the assholes...not-so-asshole-ish... (._.) Online!Fugaku slipped something into WTBIA!Fugaku's drink...<strong>

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and once again sorry for the long wait. Please do not expect the next chapter to come out very soon. I still have some exams left, and I need to revise for them. I'll try to work on the next chapter, of course, but I won't promise any quick updates just yet! (^_^)**

**Please leave a review with your thoughts~  
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**Thank you~  
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	12. Falling Into Place

**OMG Look who's alive? :D I apologize for the grotesquely long wait, but here it is! And it's one of the longer chapters too, so be happy! Exams are over, thank GOD, and we are nearing the end of this story. I've got a lot of projects (in terms of writing) to take care of though...hahaa, I better work hard~**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'll try hard to work on the next one and not make you wait for it as long as you did for this one!  
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**Warnings: the usual.  
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**Disclaimer: Naruto characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, and I claim no ownership of them.  
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* * *

><p>"So, what's the news on Duck-Butt?" Kiba asked, poking his head over the separation of their cubicles to stare at Naruto with creepily wide eyes. "Am I going to need to stock up on Ben and Jerry's and tissues? Are we going to have deep, soulful talks late at night about the fact that you must have seriously pissed Murphy off in a past life-"<p>

"If you're trying to cheer me up, you're failing even more than you do at air hockey," Naruto sighed, not even looking away from his computer as he typed up some more reference lists and balance-sheet-related-documents-that-he-wasn't-entirely-sure-what-they-were-for.

Kiba stuck his tongue out. "I'm a pro at air hockey!"

"If knocking the puck clear off the table and into the beer of a very muscled, very angry biker is what being a pro is about, then I'd rather remain a novice for the rest of my life," Naruto deadpanned. Kiba pouted, grumbling under his breath before Naruto continued. "And to answer your question no; there's no news yet. He's still unconscious, though they say that he shows no signs of getting worse."

"Just no signs of getting better either, right?" Kiba finished, a sad frown on his face as Naruto's shoulders slumped.

"Yeah...Nothing."

There was silence, almost an uncanny silence considering how quiet the floor usually was. But since Sasuke had been hospitalized, which was three days ago, no one on the floor had been very chipper or willing to talk more than needed. It probably had more to do with Naruto's rather impressive rain cloud of pure depression that suffocated half the building than anyone actually missing Sasuke's presence so intensely.

"Well, buckle up! I'm sure Sasuke's just taking a much needed trip down memory lane before he'll wake up, throw a hissy fit and then demand you do something to his lower regions which frankly makes me vomit in my mouth a little just thinking of the possibilities," Kiba said, patting Naruto on the back encouragingly. Naruto sent him a glare over his shoulder, but Kiba just waved it off like he always did.

"No one's asking you to think of the possibilities," the blond grumbled.

"No one ever asks you to think of Ozzy Osbourne in a pink leotard dancing the cha-cha, but we all do it at some point in our lives anyway," Kiba said flippantly before grinning widely when Naruto's face scrunched in horror as he automatically pictured the image. "See!"

"Agh, dude no! No, eugh!" Naruto scrubbed his hands over his eyes. "Why the hell can I see it so clearly?" he cried.

"Because it's a powerful image, my friend," Kiba replied sagely, patting his back once more and then withdrawing his arm in case Naruto tried to sever it with his scissors. "But anyway, try to cheer up. Your depressive nature was hard enough to deal with before; I don't want to get punched in the nose again."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he turned back to work, ignoring Kiba as he hummed some ridiculous tune to himself. The office continued on, everyone once more sensing the gloom coming from Naruto and the almost obscene absence of their temporary boss. It had become some sort of unspoken rule that, unless all informed members of the floor were present, no pranks could take place. Temari continuously glanced towards Shikamaru and Chouji with a gleam in her eye, Sakura and Ino were seen scribbling furiously in their notepads before covering them up whenever the other walked passed, and even Kakashi was seen examining the copy machine with far too much intensity to be considered innocent.

But not a prank was pulled.

It was around lunch time that a sudden ripple went through the entire floor.

Kiba heard a wave of whispering growing louder, and peeked over in time to meet Ino as she rushed towards them.

"What's going on?" he asked, causing Naruto to peer up as well. Ino looked hesitant and uncomfortable.

"Mr Uchiha is here...Fugaku Uchiha," she said, wringing her hands. Kiba turned to Naruto immediately, expecting a look of anger, or perhaps one of frustration.

He did not expect Naruto to jump out of his seat and start running _towards_ the area Fugaku undoubtedly was.

"Naru-Dude! Hey!"

Naruto didn't pay Kiba any mind, instead pushing past a surprised Iruka and spotting Fugaku walking towards him from the elevators. When the older Uchiha saw him, he slowed to a stop and let Naruto trot up to him, panting from his sudden dash.

"You have...news...?" he asked breathlessly, looking up at Fugaku eagerly. He was aware that those around them were staring at the two of them, but he didn't care.

Fugaku, however, did.

"Let's step into Itachi's office," he said, motioning towards the closed door. Naruto nodded, leading the way.

"Do you want some coffee?" the blond asked, taking note of the slight paleness the older man held. As much has he still held dislike for Fugaku, the fact was that the man had asked for forgiveness. Naruto didn't like holding grudges, he really didn't. So if Fugaku wanted to be forgiven, he would try to do so completely. It also helped that the man was his boss, meaning his behaviour could be taken as simply a good employee by those that didn't know the gritty details of their shaky relationship, like Kiba.

Fugaku paused at his question, lips tightening in surprise and thought. Then he nodded. "A cup would be lovely."

Naruto nodded, turning towards the small kitchen area. "Chouji!" he called, spotting the larger man standing by the microwave. "Could you make us some coffee? Black with a half sugar for Mr Uchiha, and you know how I take mine right?"

Chouji just nodded, only giving him a brief look of confusion before visibly shrugging off his questions and going to the coffee machine. Naruto gave him a grin of thanks before turning to usher the older man into the office. When he caught the look on Fugaku's face, he paused.

"What?"

"...How did you know how I took my coffee?" Fugaku asked, clearly confused. Naruto quirked a brow and shrugged slightly, looking to the side.

"...Sasuke said that you and him had your coffee the same way, even back then," he scratched at the marks on his cheek before nodding towards the office. "Anyway, shall we?"

Fugaku nodded, still looking surprised.

They entered the office, where Fugaku took a seat in Itachi, or Sasuke's, chair. Naruto stood in front of the desk, arms crossed and an expecting expression on his face. The Uchiha sighed, dusting off some lint from the cuff of his suit.

"I called the Hospital earlier. They said there was some progress, and that things are looking good. If everything continues on, he should wake up by the end of the week, at the latest."

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief, his tense posture melting into something far more loose. "That's brilliant...any news of him waking up is brilliant."

Fugaku nodded just as there was a knock on the door and Chouji entered with two cups. He deposited them, offering a polite nod to the Uchiha and smiling kindly at Naruto when he enthusiastically thanked him and took a sip.

"Aah," Naruto sighed, closing his eyes. "Chouji, you're like...a coffee god or something," he said appreciatively. Chouji chuckled, patting his shoulder before making his exit. Fugaku eyed his cup for a second before taking a small sip. His eyes widened and he took another, longer one.

Naruto watched him with a hidden grin. "Good coffee, isn't it?" he asked, somewhat teasingly. Fugaku noticed the tone and scowled, sipping his coffee once more before placing it on the desk.

"It's passable," he sniffed. Naruto snorted into his own cup and looked to the side.

"Once an ass, always an ass," he muttered to himself. Fugaku only heard a mumble, but he could tell by the tone that it was an insult at him, and turned his scowl up a notch.

"I'm still your boss," he reminded.

"I'm still dating your son," Naruto retorted with a raised eyebrow. Fugaku blinked.

"What's that got to do with it?" he asked, dreading that Naruto was trying to use his status as Sasuke's...partner...to weasel some kind of promotion. Naruto's other eyebrow rose a little.

"Oh, I thought we were stating things about ourselves that the other didn't give a shit about," he said before draining his coffee cup and placing it down. Fugaku stared at him as he dusted his hands off before sliding them into his pocket. "If you plan on firing me, I can't do anything about that," he began.

"You could grovel," Fugaku interrupted smoothly, taking another sip of his own coffee. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"The only Uchiha I will get on my knees for is Sasuke," he said calmly and smirked when Fugaku choked on his drink, eyes going wide as he thumped at his chest. "But, that's irrelevant to what I was saying. I was saying that if you plan to fire me, there's little I can do about it. But don't think that firing me will affect my relationship with Sasuke in the slightest. Whether you're my boss or not, I'm not going anywhere."

Fugaku eyed the blond, taking careful note of his stance. While the Uzumaki looked calm and uncaring, there was a certain tenseness to his shoulders, and his lips were drawn just a little too tight.

'_He's taking a gamble,_' the older man thought, linking his hands in front of him and meeting the challenging gaze sent his way. '_His playing his cards quite recklessly._'

Yes, Naruto was taking a gamble. He knew that, despite the apology, Fugaku still didn't exactly like him and the same was vice versa. Just because he was willing to let go of the past didn't mean that they were perfectly friendly now. He knew that Fugaku still fancied the idea of firing him, and he didn't want to lose his job. But he also wanted to make it clear that his job could never be attributed to his choice to stay with Sasuke. The last thing he wanted was for this man, who jumped to conclusions faster than a praying mantis snatched a fly, to start assuming that he was using Sasuke's position as his boss and Fugaku's son to stay employed.

The two stared each other down, neither willing to back up for different reasons; Naruto, because he wanted to make his point, and Fugaku, because he was a proud Uchiha, and Uchiha's never lost...mostly.

Finally their tense staring match, complete with crackling lightening, was interrupted by a tentative knock on the door. Both turned their heads to look at the intruder, spotting a very timid looking Kiba peeking into the room.

"So sorry to interrupt," the brunet said with a sheepish smile. "But, uh, there was a call from the top floors for Mr Uchiha, and there's an urgent email Naruto needs to look over," he informed.

"Oh, the meeting," Fugaku hissed to himself, standing up quickly. He drained his coffee of the last dregs before shoving the cup into Naruto's hands. "I have to run. As for you," he turned to Naruto and eyed him up and down while the blond waited nervously. Now that the tense air was broken, he wasn't feeling as confident as before.

Fugaku continued to eye him before smirking. "What're you waiting for? Apparently the email is urgent. Hop to it."

He walked past without a backwards glance, leaving Naruto to breathe a relieved sigh and Kiba to stand with his mouth hanging open. The dog lover watched his boss walk away, before lifting a shaking finger to point at the man's back.

"He..." he moved his finger to Naruto, eyes wide. "You...he...and I...and he...and you...and coffee...and...and..."

Naruto waited patiently, smiling happily now that he knew he had made his point and wasn't about to get his ass fired. Kiba continued to silently point between him and Fugaku's retreating figure, shocked at how civil and almost banter-like they had been. Finally he snapped.

"DID I MISS SOMETHING HERE_?_!"

* * *

><p>For the next few days, Naruto received word from Fugaku around the same time in the afternoon, claiming that Sasuke had improved little by little. The blond relayed the news to Kiba, who naturally decided to sing it out for the rest of the office to know, and soon people were starting to anticipate the recovery of their boss. Not everyone knew what had happened, but it didn't matter. They just knew their fellow worker and prankster was in hospital, but looking better every day.<p>

It was Friday when Naruto didn't receive a message from Fugaku. For a large part of the day, he worried that it was a bad sign. Had something happened that left the man too devastated to speak? Or was Fugaku falling back into his old habits and trying to distance Naruto and Sasuke?

He would shake his head and tell himself to stop getting so paranoid. Fugaku wasn't that pathetic...right?

His fingers stilled their typing on the keyboard as his eyes glazed. He began to image what he would do if it turned out Fugaku was trying to pull something. He chewed on his lip, trying not to get worked up over his imaginative scenarios. He glanced around, seeing that Kiba was still absent. He had gone to another floor for something, either a delivery or something else and had yet to return. Honestly, Naruto wished he would hurry and get back; he could use a friendly talk right then.

"N-Naruto?"

He jumped and spun, seeing Hinata leaning his way and looking concerned. She was holding a folder, undoubtedly something he needed to attend to.

"Are you a-alright?" she asked, glancing over his face. "You seem a b-bit pale."

"I'm fine, Hinata, just a little...tired," Naruto said, smiling slightly. "No need to worry. Is that for me?" he asked, pointing at the folder. She nodded, handing it over and still looking at him in concern.

"Are you s-sure? I could m-make you some coffee if you'd l-like?" she offered, the sincerity of her wish to help clear in her voice. He had to smile; he understood why Kiba liked her, and if he hadn't ever fallen for Sasuke, he reckoned that Hinata would've been someone he may have chosen instead.

Thinking of Sasuke reminded him why he was so uneasy, and he swallowed.

"That...that would be really nice," he mumbled. She nodded, straightening up. Her gaze drifted over his shoulder as she did so, and her eyes grew wide.

"K-Kiba," he said and Naruto started to turn. Before he could, he felt his chair get grabbed violently and let out a yelp as it was yanked backwards, taking him with it. He gripped the sides, tilting dangerously as he was dragged out of his cubicle on his chair.

"Sorry Hinata, he has to come with me!" Kiba called back, wildly pulling Naruto's chair around until the blond was in front of him.

"Kiba, what the hell are you-WHOA!" Naruto held on for dear life as Kiba put both hands on the back of his chair and then _sprinted_ like the end of the world was on their heels. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING_?_!"

Kiba didn't slow down, just bending slightly to increase his pace. The office passed by in a wild blur, with heads turning rapidly to watch as the two sped by.

"I was heading to the elevator," Kiba panted out as they approached said mechanism at a frightening speed. "I bumped into Fugaku, and he told me to get you quickly!"

"Why?" Naruto shrieked, seeing the elevator doors looming closer. Iruka was walking passed them, and he quickly yelled. "OPEN THE ELEVATOR IRUKA!"

The brunet whirled around, seeing the oncoming men and pulling quite a dumbfounded expression that quickly changed to panic. He fumbled with the button, pressing it repeatedly as he saw Naruto and Kiba were getting dangerously close. The doors slowly started to slide open, and Iruka dramatically dived to the side as the two came barrelling passed.

Naruto, in a moment of genius decision, jumped off his chair as he passed through the elevator doors. The chair smashed into the wall, causing Kiba to vault over it and slam into the wall with a pained grunt. Naruto had rolled into a corner, panting heavily as Iruka stuck his head in before the doors started to close, looking at them both with wide eyes.

"You boys okay?" he asked.

Naruto nodded, panting, while Kiba just stuck his thumb up over his shoulder. Iruka nodded, warned them not to be reckless again and backed out, letting the elevator doors close.

"So, what does Fugaku want so bad that you almost crush me with my own chair?" Naruto asked once the lift began to move. He climbed to his feet, walking over and pulling Kiba up to. The brunet turned to face him and they both blinked.

"...Your nose is bleeding," Naruto informed him. Kiba blinked again and nodded.

"My nose is bleeding," he agreed before grabbing Naruto's tie and using the end to wipe away the blood. Naruto's face twisted in disgust and he quickly worked to loosen the knot and let the tie fall off his neck.

"That's gross!"

Kiba just shrugged, dabbing at his nose as the elevator doors slid open. He left Naruto's mangled chair in the elevator and started to shove the blond with one hand.

"Move it boy," he ordered, herding Naruto towards the main doors.

"Wait, why? What's going on?" Naruto asked, noticing a haggard looking Fugaku standing outside his car at the front. The man was a little pale, and Naruto felt his stomach drop. "Kiba?"

Kiba opened the door, waving briefly to Fugaku who nodded back and motioned for Naruto to get in. Naruto hesitated, unsure if he wanted to know why Fugaku looked as bad as he did.

Kiba placed a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention. With blood still dripping down from his nose, the brunet stared right at Naruto, squeezing his shoulder. Naruto stared back, watching as Kiba's lips stretched...into a smile.

"Sasuke woke up, apparently."

* * *

><p>Fugaku's back was stiff as he walked ahead of Naruto down the hospital hallway. Naruto could understand his rigid behaviour, somewhat, but he wished he would walk faster! Sasuke was awake, and he was anxious to make sure he was okay, as well as find out just where he was in terms of memory.<p>

As they approached his door, the blond noticed something strange. It was an odd sound, and he slowed his steps, listening carefully. It sounded like...

"Are you reminding yourself to breathe?" he asked Fugaku with raised eyebrows. He stopped and the noise vanished.

"...No."

Naruto rolled his eyes and pushed past him. It was fine if the man was nervous, but that was pushing it a bit.

"Here we are," Naruto breathed as they reached Sasuke's door, and he reached for the handle. Fugaku suddenly appeared beside him, grabbing his wrist. He snapped his head around to look at him, ready to tell him to let go, but he was silenced by the look of pure fear on Fugaku's face.

"...What should I say to him?" the older man asked.

Naruto stared at him for a long moment before his brows drew down in an apologetic smile.

"I have no idea. But all we can do is go in, make sure he's okay, and then take it from there," he said, removing Fugaku's hand from his wrist. He gave the older man a pat on the shoulder. "It's all about baby steps now."

Fugaku nodded slowly, sucking in a breath and visibly steeling himself for what needed to be done.

When the Uchiha appeared ready, Naruto grabbed the handle again and pulled the door open.

Sasuke was on his bed, sitting up slightly and resting against a lot of pillows. A rolled up magazine was in his hand, his eyes looking at the curved title blankly. When the door opened, he looked up and met Naruto's eyes. Nothing was said as the blond walked into the room, Fugaku following behind. Sasuke looked at them both, head slowly moving to and from each of them in turn. Fugaku was as rigid as ever and Naruto just waited.

"...You guys..." Sasuke said, his voice a little hoarse from his time asleep. "...Come closer." His hand lifted, motioning for them to get closer.

Naruto stepped forward immediately. Fugaku hesitated before following suit.

"Closer," Sasuke said again, once more motioning with his hand. Naruto walked right up to the bed and once more Fugaku followed after a slight hesitation.

"Yes, Sasuke?" Naruto asked softly.

Sasuke looked between them, each man standing on either side of his bed. His face was completely blank as he swivelled his head before letting it face forward.

His fingers tightened on the rolled magazine, and the next second Naruto was reeling back after Sasuke whacked him in the face with the book. Fugaku let out a rushing breath of pain as the magazine darted his way, hitting him right on the crotch since he was as tall as he was.

The two of them stumbled away from the bed and Sasuke, who's arm was still raised and brandishing the magazine. But now his face was screwed up in anger, a tick in his jaw and his eyebrow twitching.

"You are both ASSHOLES!" he yelled. Naruto was holding his forehead, blinking spots out of his eyes. Damn, that was a thick magazine! He looked at the title.

Vogue.

Ah. That explained it.

Fugaku was resisting the urge to cradle his crotch, instead the back of a chair against the wall and sucking in deep breaths.

"W-what?" Naruto asked, rubbing the attacked area. Sasuke's head whipped around to him, glaring right at him. "W-what the hell-"

"You heard me! You're an asshole," Sasuke repeated, and then turned to look at his father. "And YOU! You are the biggest, most insufferable, egotistical, selfish, pig-headed, narrow-minded, conniving, scheming, sadistic-"

"Sasuke," Naruto cut in, seeing how Fugaku was looking more and more devastated. Sure, maybe what Sasuke was saying was true but still, it was a bit much. "How much do you remember?"

Sasuke glared at him, lowering his hand. "I remember that we became a couple. I remember that I wanted to come back for you...but I couldn't."

He directed a very vicious glare towards Fugaku as he spoke. The man flinched a little, but stood his ground.

"I was trying to do what I thought was best," he said firmly.

"What you thought was best?" Sasuke repeated angrily, shoulders hunching up to his ears. "Lying and deceiving me to suit your own personal ideals, completely ignoring my own feelings on the matter...that's what you thought was best? Maybe for you, but not for anyone else!"

"Sasuke," Naruto sighed, walking forward. He ignored Sasuke's glare, especially since it was lacking a great deal of anger and held more of a very distraught shine to it. "Just hear us out...please?" he added, staring into onyx eyes.

Sasuke stared back, his resolve visibly deflating. He sighed explosively and nodded, but he didn't let either of them touch him.

"Sasuke, I know that what I did was a terrible, inexcusable mistake," Fugaku began. "It was extremely selfish of me but, please, believe me when I say that I really was trying to make a choice to your benefit. I didn't want you to end up like all those victims of homophobic hate-crimes I heard about on the news, especially over someone that appeared to be a complete and utter delinquent,"

"Hey, could you hold off on the insults, boss?" Naruto said grumpily, crossing his arms. Fugaku shrugged.

"Sorry, but it was true. That's what I believed back then. Of course I know better now," he said, tilting his head in Naruto's direction. He then focused on Sasuke, meeting his son's accusing stare with a sincerely apologetic one of his own. "Sasuke...I really am truly sorry for what I have done. It was wrong of me, and I don't expect you to forgive me anytime soon, if ever. But believe me when I say that I do love you, son, and I only wanted what I thought was best for you."

Sasuke kept quiet while Naruto gave Fugaku an approving nod, knowing that it was the best the man could've done for now. Fugaku nodded back.

"I'll step out for some coffee now, and let the two of you talk and sort things out. When I come back, Sasuke, you can decide what you want to do then."

With that, Fugaku strode out of the hospital room, not even limping though Naruto was certain that once the man was out of sight of any witnesses, he was going to check and make sure his balls hadn't sunk back into his body.

The door was closed, leaving them in a heavy silence as Sasuke stared at his hands and Naruto stared at him. He could tell that the raven was thinking, since his eyes weren't completely focused, but they were still alight.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asked suddenly, making Naruto hum in question. "That we'd been together? Why didn't you...help me get my memories back the moment you realized I didn't have them?"

Naruto sighed and sat down next to him, not touching him but for the slightest brush of their shoulders. He looked at his own hands as he spoke.

"I wanted to. God knows the second I saw you and you said you had no idea who I was, I just wanted to beat you black and purple until you remembered," he laughed a little at the end.

"Then why didn't you?" Sasuke asked softly.

"Mainly because Itachi begged me not to," Naruto said simply. He heard Sasuke's intake of breath and nudged him. "But also because I didn't want to force you to remember anything that you had blocked out for a reason."

"What do you mean?"

"Honestly," Naruto scratched the back of his head, chuckling weakly. "I...I believed for a while, a long while, that the reason you never remembered me was because you actually didn't want to."

"Did Itachi or my father say that-"

"No, Itachi never said that. And I never really spoke to your father until a few days ago, aside from the stiff greeting when we bumped into each other in the office," Naruto said calmly, cutting off Sasuke's imminent ranting. "It was something I was scared of, a fear and doubt that I allowed myself to wallow over. Itachi had nothing to do with it."

"Then why did he let it happen? Why did he let my father do that to me?" Sasuke growled, clenching his fists.

Naruto smiled. "Sasuke, do you remember that one date we had where a family sitting next to us in the restaurant broke out into a screaming match?" he asked.

Sasuke stared at him, his lips tightening. Then a little spark appeared in his eyes. "I...don't remember exactly, but it sounds familiar. I still don't remember everything," he trailed off in a mutter.

Naruto smiled. "Well, that day the family really got into it. And I remember that you told me you felt really, really awkward being around people shouting at each other like that. You even hurried us out to get away."

"What's your point?"

"You and your father were constantly fighting right?" Naruto said, turning to him with that same, relaxed smile on his face. Sasuke nodded slowly. "Well imagine how Itachi must have felt, being around that all the time. It will always suck having to be around two feuding people. I think that, when you had your accident, and you and your father started to actually build a relationship that wasn't based on aggression...I'm certain Itachi was simply trying to maintain that."

"But he didn't-"

"I'm also certain that he never anticipated that we would see each other again. Let me say that when I saw you and him on the first day of work, he looked just as surprised to see me as you did when I randomly hugged you."

Sasuke went quiet again, thinking over it.

Naruto waited patiently, playing with his own fingers. He couldn't really imagine what Sasuke was feeling right then, but he was certain there was a fair mix of betrayal and anger alongside the confusion.

Finally, when the twittering of birds grew to be rather annoying, the silence was broken as Sasuke spoke up.

"Was it...was it hard for you? To be around me when I treated you as a stranger; when I didn't remember how much I loved you?" he asked softly.

Naruto smiled and reached over, taking one of Sasuke's hands and meeting his eyes. There were remnants of pain in blue eyes as he recalled the nights spent mourning the loss of what they once had, or the hard days where keeping his smile was difficult.

"More than you could imagine. But I learned, eventually, not to hold onto it. And when we started again...I loved the old you, and I always would. But I also love who you are now. You're still Sasuke, no matter what you remember or forget. So even if you had never recovered any of your memories, I'd still love and want to be with you," Naruto said sincerely.

Sasuke stared back before he leant forwards and pressed a kiss to Naruto's lips. It was soft, light and gentle, and he pulled away soon after Naruto had closed his eyes. They both looked at each other before Sasuke sighed.

"I'm sorry I forgot. And I'm sorry for the pain that caused you."

"It's okay. And I'm sorry for, essentially, lying to you," Naruto said back. Sasuke nodded, resting their foreheads together and closing his eyes as Naruto did the same.

They sat together, light smiles on their faces. But slowly, Naruto's brow furrowed and his smile wavered.

"Do you...hear that?" the blond asked, cracking open his eyes. Sasuke nodded, pulling away and looking around the room. There was faint music playing, the tune something light and slow and the hard-to-discern words definitely speaking along the lines of romance.

"Where's it coming from?" Sasuke mumbled, looking his hospital room in confusion.

Just then the door slid open, the music becoming clearer. Fugaku was standing in the doorway, one hand holding up his iPad, which was playing the local radio station, and the other holding a cup of coffee.

"I thought I'd help set the mood," he said blandly at their questioning looks.

Sasuke blinked while Naruto gaped.

Then the blond started to laugh loudly while Sasuke just shook his head.

"So, have you decided on what you want to do?" Fugaku said, stepping into the room after he switched off the radio and slid his phone back into his pocket.

"I'm staying with Naruto," Sasuke said immediately. "I love him, back then and especially now."

Fugaku nodded to his son, making the challenging glare on Sasuke's face melt into surprise. "I had expected that, and I have no arguments. I see now that you both love each other," he looked between them and took a breath. "And so you should be together. I promise there will be no more interference on my part ever again. But, son, please be careful," he said, looking up with a frown. "There are people out there that will trouble you because of your orientation...I don't want you to get hurt."

Sasuke clasped Naruto's hand and fixed his father with a determined look.

Then he gave a very small smile.

"You know, I'd be able to deal with any assholes giving me trouble a lot better if I knew that my father supported my decision," he said.

Naruto smiled widely as Fugaku looked surprised, once more.

Then slowly he nodded and a small, slightly painful looking smile formed on his face.

"I do, son. I do."

"SASUKE!"

The door slammed open with brutal force and Naruto fell backwards in his fright while Fugaku lurched in his chair. Sasuke withdrew his arms to his body as someone came thundering towards him and the next second he was being smothered by someone.

"Mmph! Mhhp!" he tried calling for help, not knowing who was trying to kill him or why.

Naruto looked up from the floor and gasped while Fugaku got to his feet, straightening his tie before loudly clearing his throat.

"You're suffocating him, Mikoto."

The former Mrs Uchiha pulled away from Sasuke, allowing him to gasp for breath as she turned around to face Fugaku. Naruto marvelled at her appearance, noting that she had barely changed from how he remembered her. Long hair done up in a tight bun, a gentle and slender face holding onyx eyes the same shade as Sasuke's.

Mikoto stared right at Fugaku, pink lips pulled into a straight line. Fugaku looked a mix of happy and terrified over seeing her.

"Fugaku Uchiha," Mikoto began, placing her hands on her hips. Fugaku swallowed and Naruto wondered how it could be possible for the usually composed and intimidating man to look so out of place and awkward. Obviously Mikoto was still the only person who could push and pull him out of every pre-fixed persona he had.

"Yes?"

She waltzed up to him and raised her hand, and all the men in the room flinched, waiting for the slap to happen. But instead, Fugaku found a gentle hand resting on his cheek and he blinked wide eyes when a smile spread over her face.

"I missed you," she mumbled. "I just wish you didn't have to be so stubborn all the time; I would've come back so much sooner if you had just allowed Sasuke to be who he is."

Naruto got to his feet again, walking forward and putting his arms over Sasuke's shoulders. The young Uchiha leant back against him, a smile on his face as he watched his father stammer a response before his mother shut his rambles up with a kiss.

"Looks like everything's falling into place," he mumbled. Naruto nodded, resting his chin on his head and smiling.

"Yeah...About time too."

* * *

><p><strong>Have ALL THE REUNIONS! \(O∇ O)  
><strong>

**I hope you enjoyed! (I love Kiba. ^_^)  
><strong>

**Please leave a...er...comment? Is that what they're being called now? WTF FANFICTION Y U CHANGE REVIEW THINGY? D: It was fine...ah whatevs.  
><strong>


	13. When The Boss Is Back

**Oh HAI GUYSS! Look who crawled out of her hole and finally updated! (I know, I'm an awful person for making you wait soooo long...feel free to bombard me with hate mail :/ ) ANYWAY...this is it for this story. This is the final chapter...because there's nothing left to do with it. I just cannot do more with this. I...I hate to say it but, I lost all interest in this story sometime ago (which is one of the reasons why it was so hard for me to just write a damn chapter..I'm so sorry) but yes, this is the final chapter (unlucky number 13...greeaat :L) **

**Anyway, I really am sorry for making the wait so long...so I won't keep you any longer! (Check out the author note at the end though, I got some stuff to say~)  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Kiba was typing away at his computer when he heard a commotion behind him. Looking over, he saw Naruto standing in the middle of a crowd of workers, his head down and his shoulders shaking. Kiba felt the apprehension creep up as he got out of his seat and made his way over.<p>

"Naruto? What's wrong?" he asked, looking at the grave faces around him. Naruto didn't look up, speaking through his hands as his shoulders shook.

"Sasuke...Sasuke got into an a-accident on his way back t-to work this morning..."

Kiba's jaw dropped in horror as everyone around them gasped or looked down at the floor with saddened faces.

"Is he...is he in ICU or something?" Kiba asked hopefully, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He couldn't believe it; things had been looking up, but once more everything just had to crash and burn around Naruto. It was as if he was cursed!

"He...He..." Naruto's shoulders were up to his ears as the trembles grew worse.

Suddenly, the door to Sasuke's office burst open at the same moment Naruto looked up and yelled.

"HE'S A ZOMBIE!"

"BLAAARGH!"

Everyone gathered let out terrified screams and yells as a very pale, very bloody Sasuke came running from his office, arms raised menacingly as he made a bee-line for the nearest person. Sakura dodged him while shrieking at the top of her lungs, almost knocking Ino over as the two of them tried to run. People everywhere panicked and scattered, trying to get away from the bloody man. Sasuke just turned to the next target; a frozen Kiba.

"Braaains," Sasuke-zombie growled, reaching towards him. He stopped inches away from Kiba, who was still from pure shock. Everyone had stopped running, standing fifteen feet away from them and watching with wide eyes and uncertain fear still caressing their features. Sasuke stared at Kiba blankly for a moment, blood dripping down his chin and neck from somewhere in his hairline. Abruptly he turned away, letting out a long moan.

"No braaaains," he moaned and then looked right at Shikamaru, pointing a bent finger at him. "Brains there."

There was a second of silence as the lazy genius just stared at Sasuke as he hobbled towards him. Then he smirked.

"My _brains_ are telling me you'd like a towel to clean up all that fake-blood," he said. Sasuke reached him and slung an arm over his shoulder.

"And that's _exactly_ why a real zombie would attack you first," the raven stated simply, smirking back. "And your brain's right. This stuff is sticky as fuck."

Another second of silence.

Then realization sunk in...and everyone started to laugh.

"Holy shit!"

"Boss, you scared the living bejeezus out of me!"

"Nice comeback prank Uchiha."

"Naruto, you were in on it too!"

Kiba turned to see Naruto grinning and laughing, the shaking of his shoulders now making sense.

"Bastard!" Kiba yelped and then pounced, grabbing Naruto in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles against his head. "And here I was thinking he was dead and you were going to go into weeping-widow mode!"

Naruto just laughed and squirmed out of his hold, rubbing his head. "Sorry dude. It was all Sasuke's idea, surprisingly." Under his breath he grumbled "Bastard made me get up early just so we could get here before anyone else."

Kiba grinned, chuckling at his friend's grumbling. He leant on Naruto's shoulders, turning to watch as someone handed Sasuke a towel and the Uchiha began to wipe off all the fake blood. He'd really done a good job of 'zombie-fying' himself. Aside from the blood, he'd put white powder on his skin to give it a dry, pale countenance. There were also fake bruises on his arms, and he was dressed in tattered clothing. No wonder he got there early; that get-up would take time to get into, and he couldn't very well drive to work like that.

"So...is everything good?" Kiba asked softly, turning to look at Naruto again. "Did he remember anything? Did he forget again?"

Naruto smiled slightly. "He remembered, but not in great detail. It's more like, he remembered the epic plot points, but not all the scenery and dialogue, if you get me."

Kiba nodded. "But he still remembered that you two had history? What did he say to that? And what are you guys planning to do?"

"He was upset that I hadn't told him sooner. And what else can we do? Neither of us want to end what we have; we're just going to carry on and deal with any issues that arise when they arise. It's all we can do, really," Naruto gave a light shrug, brows furrowed up in a 'oh well' expression. Kiba just nodded again.

"Well...either way, I'm glad things are working out," he said, giving Naruto a hearty pat on the back.

"Yeah. Me too...me too," Naruto mumbled contently.

"Alright, pranks over. Get to work!" Sasuke yelled, and there were groans and sighs before everyone went back to work. But they were smirking too.

After all...the prank war was back on.

* * *

><p>Sasuke stood in his office doorway, several papers tucked under his arm. He was simply taking a moment to observe the entire floor before going to deliver them, smiling as he took in all the people working alongside him. He still got headaches, some worse than others. But along with the headaches came small little memories. Like giving his mother a card on mother's day only for her to burst into tears and make him a cake as a thank you, or a memory of watching Naruto get into a shouting match with one of their teachers only for the two to end up in hysterics when their argument took a turn to a completely different subject that had everyone in the class butting in and making their observations.<p>

Small memories; things that could be considered insignificant, but every time he got one it was like putting another puzzle piece into place and getting to see more of the mysterious image it would create.

"AH! AH FUCK! AAH!"

His head snapped around in time to see Shikamaru leaping away from his desk, shaking his hand furiously to dislodge what he identified as a mouse trap.

"HAH!" Temari roared, pointing at him triumphantly from her office. "PAYBACK IS A BITCH!"

"Yeah, and its name is Temari Sabaku," Shikamaru snapped back.

Then he was running for his life as Temari picked up her chair and chased him with it.

Ino laughed as she watched her childhood friend dodge a spectacular attack. "Oh those two; they should hurry up and get rid of all that sexual tension," she said with a light sigh.

"Sexual tension?" Kiba snorted, watching as Chouji acted noble and stole Temari's chair away from her, resulting in a chair fight as she grabbed his chair and started to duel with him while Shikamaru caught his breath to the side. "I don't know; that seems more like 'she really, really wants to mount his head on her wall' kind of tension to me."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ino protested with a wave of her hand.

Kiba just smirked. "Yeah, you're probably right. Unlike you, I'm not an expert on what sexual tension feels like," he said as he walked away.

Three seconds later, Kiba was running for his life as Ino chased him with a stapler.

Sasuke shook his head, watching his fellow workers run around like fools. But he couldn't help but smile at it all. He pushed away from the doorframe and headed towards the elevators, but not before glancing over at Naruto. The two managed to make eye contact, and Naruto gave him a bright smile which he returned with a smaller one and a slight wave.

He turned away and almost walked into Hinata, who fumbled to grab the stack of folders she was carrying.

"Shit, sorry," Sasuke quickly caught a falling folder while Hinata swayed, trying to keep the folders upright.

"I-It's okay."

"KIBA!" Sasuke yelled, turning to look at the man. Kiba jumped up from his hiding spot, and Ino glared at him as she walked back to her desk.

"Yes boss?"

"Come help your girlfriend carry these folders," Sasuke ordered through a grin. Kiba's cheeks reddened slightly as everyone laughed at him, but the laughter died when Hinata looked around the folders with wide eyes.

"H-How did you k-know we were t-together?" she asked, looking shocked.

"WAIT WHAT?" Naruto jumped to his feet, looking at Kiba with wide eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you guys were dating_!_?"

Kiba rubbed his neck. "Didn't really want to bring up relationships when you were so gloomy dude," he reasoned and Naruto looked a little guilty. The he hopped around and clapped Kiba on the back.

"I'm glad for you guys!" he said sincerely, sending a smile at Hinata. The woman had hid her face, realizing her mistake of saying it aloud. She gave a little nod before running towards the elevators to finish her work.

"So, how long?" Naruto whispered to his friend, grinning.

"Only a few days really. We met up for coffee a little bit after our fight ended, you remember?" Kiba said as he sat back down. Naruto hummed, sliding into his own seat and glancing towards Sasuke's retreating back.

Kiba scratched his head and opened up a new folder on his computer before reaching down and pulling open his drawer.

There was a bang and a burst of confetti exploded from his desk, making him yell while Naruto started to laugh hysterically.

"I am not cleaning this up!"

"Hahaha, I-I know! Ahaha!"

The rest of the day consisted of everyone trying to get a prank in. Kakashi sent an email out to half the office, under an 'urgent' subject; it turned out to be a link to a movie, opening up mid-sex-scene and causing quite the ruckus. Iruka was seen beating him with a folder, though the witnesses refused to elaborate on what happened next.

Ino had managed to put up a photo-shopped picture that showed Sakura's head atop a fat rhino on the notice board. Sakura hadn't seen it for a long time, but eventually she noticed the snickers sent her way and figured it out. The fight that ensued had been epic, with much hair pulling, nail-scratching and dark insults tossed back and forth before it ended with Naruto and Sasuke holding Sakura back while Shikamaru and Chouji held Ino back until the two of them had calmed down.

By the time it was the end of the day, everyone was grinning and laughing, talking about the pranks they'd pulled or witnessed as well as discussing possible pranks quietly to themselves or amongst their friends and brothers-in-arms.

Naruto was waiting for Sasuke to finish up a phone call, lingering outside his office. He waved goodbye to Kiba and Hinata, grinning when they left together and he caught sight of them holding hands in the elevator, blushing like school kids.

"No ma'am...Yes ma'am...No ma'am," Sasuke's voice was droll and bored. Naruto peered inside, seeing that he was resting his head on one hand, the other lazily holding the phone to his ear. He noticed Naruto and rolled his eyes in exasperation of the phone call. Naruto grinned and walked into the office, leaning against Sasuke's desk.

"No ma'am, all shipping orders have already been sent through for that particular product. You'll have to wait until they've been returned before I can send them through to you," Sasuke held back a groan as the woman on the other end, one of the higher ups, started to rant on some more. He noticed Naruto grinning mischievously, and raised a brow in response.

Naruto slowly lowered himself onto Sasuke's desk, carefully avoiding the picture frame and the phone, as well as some stationary. Sasuke leant back in his seat, still on the phone and having one ear murdered by the woman on the other end, but his attention was entirely on Naruto. The blond moved to lie on his side, one leg crossed over the other. He had unbuttoned the first button of his shirt and pulled it open, revealing a bit of his chest. Resting his head on one hand, elbow propped up, he slid his other hand over his torso slowly. Sasuke watched avidly. Naruto grinned once more, repeating the motion before he mouthed 'Draw me like one of your French girls'.

Then he pulled the most ridiculous expression of lust anyone had ever seen, and Sasuke couldn't stop the loud snort of laughter that broke free.

Naruto had to cover his mouth when the woman on the phone could be heard shouting, and Sasuke quickly tried to cover his laughter by coughing.

"S-Sorry ma'am, something...in my throat," Sasuke struggled to say, still trying not to laugh as he sent an attempted glare Naruto's way. The blond just shrugged innocently, but his eyes were alight with laughter. "Yes ma'am, of course. Sorry about that. As you were saying?"

Naruto groaned softly. _'He's still going to talk to her? Can't he feign illness or something?_' he thought. Then he blinked and snickered as a wicked idea came to him. Getting off the desk, he grabbed the phone's body and placed it onto a confused Sasuke's lap. The Uchiha jerked a little as Naruto pulled his chair backwards, a little ways away from the desk. Mindful of the phone cord, Naruto started to spin the chair around, slowly at first but then picking up speed. Sasuke was clutching onto the armrest with one hand while the other struggled to hold the phone to his ear. He always got dizzy easily, and Naruto damn well knew it.

"Y-yes ma'am," he said with some difficulty as the room started to blur. He swayed, pressing himself back in his chair as much as he could. Naruto kept appearing and vanishing from his line of vision, but the bright and cheeky grin was practically burned into his retinas already. "No, ma'am, I don't-ugh," he broke off, sticking his hand out to try and grab onto something. He felt another hand grab his and came to a halt. Naruto was laughing silently as he held Sasuke's arm, letting the disoriented man gather his bearings.

"S-sorry ma'am, just feeling a little sick today," he said and swallowed thickly when the room continued to spin slowly. The woman said something else and Sasuke held back a sigh of relief. "Yes, that would be great. I promise to clear this up first thing tomorrow morning," he said and Naruto let go of his hand and started to hip-thrust a few times in victory. "Yes, thank you ma'am. Have a good day."

Sasuke put the phone down and slumped in his seat, groaning. "Make the room stop. I want to get off."

Naruto chuckled, rubbing the top of his head soothingly. "Can we go home yet? I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," Sasuke sighed, pushing himself out of the chair and grabbing his jacket. He gathered everything he needed while Naruto chattered about the various goings on in the office that day. The two of them made their way out of the office, hands coming together once they were inside the elevator.

They decided to eat at a little cafe that was only down the street from their work, and so they left Sasuke's car in the garage and started to walk. The streets were rather busy since most companies closed down around this time, and the road was filled with light traffic.

They passed by several smaller shops, just talking aimlessly and sometimes throwing ideas for a prank around. They also passed by a small basketball court where a group of high school boys were playing a game. Naruto stopped to watch, grinning as he saw the impressive manoeuvres.

"They're good. The ball just seems to fly across!" he commented, watching as one spectacularly difficult pass was made. Sasuke tilted his head, also watching.

"It's because of that little guy with the white hair," he pointed. Naruto squinted before finally catching a glimpse of the kid. He gaped.

"...Was he always there?"

"...I don't know."

Shaking their heads the two continued on their way, heading down to the cafe and taking a seat by the window. Sasuke ordered a coffee and Naruto ordered hot chocolate before they both decided on some simple sandwiches.

"Itachi's going to be coming back soon, isn't he?" Naruto said thoughtfully, taking a bite out of his chicken mayo sandwich.

"On Monday," Sasuke nodded, sipping his coffee.

"So then the prank war will have to stop huh?" Naruto looked so sad at this fact. Sasuke smiled, reaching across the table and patting his hand consolingly.

"Don't worry. We'll have the memories and who knows? Maybe Itachi will get sent on another business trip, and we'll have another two to three weeks of pranking to enjoy."

Naruto grinned. "Awesome...but that also makes me feel bad for wanting him to be sent to all the corners of the earth," he frowned a little at the end before shrugging. "Ah well, he'll conquer them all anyway."

They ate in silence after that but for the occasional word or two about their meal. When they were finished and had paid, they started to walk back to the office, hands linked together.

It was as they entered the garage and Sasuke pulled out his car keys that Naruto suddenly clapped his hands together, startling the Uchiha.

"I'VE GOT IT!"

Sasuke looked at him with wide eyes, holding his keys tightly.

"...Yes dear, that's nice but...what have you got exactly?" he questioned slowly. Naruto gave him a glare for calling him 'dear' but he brushed it aside, grinning and walking right up to Sasuke.

"Well, sweetheart, we have to make a stop on the way to your place!" he said, clapping his hands on Sasuke's shoulders with a grin.

"...Where and why?"

Naruto didn't reply, but as they drove out of the garage, Sasuke couldn't help but worry when Naruto started to laugh to himself in the passenger seat, each chuckle promising more and more mischief.

* * *

><p>Itachi Uchiha parked his car in his spot in the garage and climbed out, straightening his tie. He'd only gotten back from Kenya the day before, and had spent the entire day resting. But he would not miss a day of work; jet lag would not beat an Uchiha, oh no.<p>

He started to walk towards the elevator, mentally going over all the statistics of his trip, what he might have to catch up on, how many meetings he would be able to fit in with the board of directors regarding their new chain in Kenya, as well as other things that held greater or lesser importance.

"Good morning Mr Uchiha!"

He looked up, seeing Sakura and Lee walking towards the elevator too, both of them smiling at him cheerfully. He nodded.

"Good morning, Ms Haruno, Mr Rock."

"Was your trip successful, sir?" Lee asked, stepping back to let Sakura enter the elevator first before heading in himself. Itachi grunted affirmative.

"We'll have a new chain set up within the next three months at the most. It was surprisingly smooth; they were rather eager."

"That's wonderful," Sakura said, her eyes sliding past Itachi to meet Lee's. The two of them stared at each other for a second before they both turned away, stifling giggles behind their hands or masking them with a slight cough. Itachi quirked a brow at their behaviour, wondering what it was that they were sharing secretly. He then shrugged it off, deciding it had nothing to do with him most likely.

The ride to their floor was silent, though Sakura and Lee still kept glancing at each other and sometimes him, and then hiding laughter. By the time they arrived, Itachi was starting to rethink his early brush-off. He allowed Sakura to leave first before stepping out, and all heads turned his way.

"Good morning boss!"

"It's good to see you!"

"Welcome back Mr Uchiha!"

The greetings and hellos were loud and cheerful, and Itachi smiled as he waved back at some people and nodded at others. He had, truthfully, missed this floor. Everyone was calm and pleasant, doing their work and keeping the peace. The people in Kenya, while certainly polite and lovely people, had been a little more boisterous than he had expected. When he said they were eager, he meant that they were _very_ eager.

"Hey Itachi."

He turned, seeing Sasuke walking towards him. He'd spoken to him over the phone once he got back, but being as tired as he was he hadn't had time to really talk to him. Itachi looked over his little brother, taking in his pleasant expression and the way he just seemed to appear...happy.

"Little brother, I trust you're okay? How is your head? And your memories?" he asked, patting Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke shrugged.

"The head hurts on occasion, like I said. Memories are still vague and fuzzy but coming back slowly," he raised a brow and smirked at his older brother. "Why, are you worried about me?"

"I'm always worried about you Sasuke; mental bills are a bitch to pay, I'd rather not have to send you to an asylum so soon," Itachi said nonchalantly and smirked when Sasuke grumbled under his breath.

"BOSS!"

"YOU'RE BACK!"

"YAY!"

Itachi looked up to see Naruto and Kiba running towards him, arms spread out happily and cheesy smiles on their faces. They got to within ten feet of him before abruptly changing course and tightly hugging each other instead of him, dancing around in a circle and singing in turn.

"The boss is back-"

"-He's back in black-"

"-As badass and whack-"

"-As a cop on crack-"

"YEAH, THE BOSS~IS~ BAAACK~!" they both chorused, arms linked as they leaned out in opposite directions, bellowing their badly-tuned song for the whole floor to hear.

Laughter erupted around them as they broke out into a harmonious-like cats fighting- melody, dancing together like complete idiots. Sasuke was smirking, arms crossed as he watched the two of them make fools of themselves while Itachi watched with an intrigued look on his face.

"...Did they start taking drugs after I left?" he asked Sasuke softly. The younger man snorted.

"No...at least, not that I'm aware of," he shrugged, a chuckle slipping out as the two clowns finished off their song by power-sliding towards Itachi, arms raised.

"Welcome back!" Naruto grinned, panting a little from all his movements. Kiba was grinning too, the two of them looking up at Itachi. He smirked down at them.

"Why thank you. I feel so loved."

"You should!" Kiba nodded and then groaned. "Because I'm stuck...Naruto, help me up!"

"I'm stuck too; I've never put my legs in this position," Naruto said, trying to get upright without hurting himself. Sasuke smirked.

"I beg to differ-"

"OKAY and you can stop right there," Kiba yelled, waving his hand frantically while Sasuke burst out laughing and Naruto snickered. "Hina, be a babe and save me?"

Hinata giggled, walking over and helping Kiba climb to his feet while Sasuke did the same for Naruto. They brushed themselves off, smiling and turning to their boss.

"Anyway, I imagine you want to get right to work," Naruto said and like a switch, everyone in the office was suddenly paying close attention to them. Itachi nodded.

"That would be ideal. Sasuke, I trust you didn't destroy my office?" he asked, starting to walk towards it. Everyone's eyes followed him like a hawk while Sasuke walked alongside him, his lips trembling.

"Nope...it's just the way you like it."

"Good."

Sasuke stopped, standing back while Itachi approached the door. Naruto and Kiba had their arms slung over each other's shoulders, and the two shared a secret high five between them. Sakura and Ino had their hands over their mouths, Shikamaru was smirking and Temari had her phone out.

Itachi walked up to his office door, gripping the handle. He turned it, stepping back and pulling open the door-

_FWOOM!_

"What the-!"

Itachi stumbled backwards, shocked, as dozens upon dozens of balloons came tumbling out of his office. There were red ones, blue ones, pink ones, white ones, green ones, yellow, purple, orange- every colour available was there, tumbling around in his office and spilling out of his door. He stood, rooted to the spot, taking in the sight. His office was positively stuffed; they were touching the roof, squashed together and bouncing off of each other as if they were living creatures sluggishly trying to find a nice spot to rest in a crowded den. One of them peacefully floated out of his office, bumping against his shoulder before falling to the floor like a feather. The Uchiha just gaped...and then...

"Holy shit..."

The floor erupted into hysterical laughter, people giving each other high fives, whistling, cheering and chuckling. Naruto and Kiba were using each other to stay upright as they howled in laughter at the look on Itachi's face. Sasuke laughed, walking up and slinging his arm over Itachi's shoulders.

"Hope you like the redecoration," he grinned and Itachi glanced at him.

"How long did it take you to do this?"

"Naruto and I started it on Friday afternoon, but over the weekend we got a handful of people to help us inflate all the balloons and such. Packing them in was a bitch, I'll have you know."

Itachi huffed out a weak laugh, lightly kicking at some of the balloons on the floor and watching as they slowly bounced away. He started to wade his way through them, pushing some more aside and trying to peer into his office. He caught sight of something and paused.

"...Is my entire office covered in sticky notes saying 'Welcome Back'?" he questioned blankly, and the laughter was renewed. Kiba was on the floor, pounding his fist against it while Naruto walked over, leaning against Sasuke and grinning wickedly.

"Maybe~" he sang.

The gathered employees continued to laugh, enjoying their prank on their boss. But slowly the laughter faded as Itachi simply stood with his back to them, and the first few nervous glances were cast. Had they gone too far? They planned to help him clean it, of course, but...well...pranking Sasuke had been one thing; what if Itachi was angry?

"You guys..." Itachi began, his voice low and dangerous.

All laughter halted, and the nervous looks increased. Kiba sat up, looking up at Itachi's back with wide eyes. It was clear he was thinking 'Uh oh', and the thought was mirrored by everyone. Sasuke frowned, trying to decide what the worst punishment Itachi could legally do to them all. Naruto simply squeezed him tighter, a contemplative look on his face.

Suddenly Itachi turned, looking up at everyone in the office. The balloons continued to cascade out of his office door as he graced the floor with a wicked, wide and very mischievous smirk.

"I hope you know that this means war," he stated, and Naruto grinned, meeting his eyes.

"Bring it on Boss."

* * *

><p><strong>That's it! *crosses arms* No more! I cannot, physically or mentally, squeeze out anything more for this story! I hope you all enjoyed it (I'm sorry for the lame ending chapter... Shoot me if you want to.)<br>**

**Anyway...over the period of time that I didn't update, I noticed there's quite a few new people following me...so, HELLO and THANK YOU, to all those lovely people! :D  
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**Anyway, to EVERYONE who's been reading, thanks you! I loved all the reviews, and I'm sorry if I let you down with the long waits and this chapter...I hope you'll be able to forgive me... (I'm not usually so unreliable with updates am I? :L What has become of me?...Blame deviantart =3= I'm VERY active on there...ridiculously so)  
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**Also, just have to put this out there (shameless self-advertisement) But I'll be starting an original series very soon (on deviantart and fictionpress). Those who've followed me for a while, you should know those original characters that I shamelessly insert into my stories...well, there'll be less of them here. They've got their own series now! (well, they will when I start it by posting the first bloody episode/chapter) So...yeah, if you'd like, keep an eye out for that! :D *has no confidence on this matter*  
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**Also...well...I started it ages ago, and even though I still haven't finished it...would you like me to post the first chapter of Cursed? It's been a long time coming, and I wanted to finish it before posting but I seem to have hit a mark...perhaps getting feedback will help me fight through it...This is entirely up to you guys! If you'd like me to start posting it, then I will.  
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**Once again, thank you for all the comments, feedback and reviews! I love them all, I love you all and I shall try not to have a repeat of the long-waits this poor story had to experience! :(  
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**Until next time~!  
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